Doctor Vs Doctor
by YoungestCullen8
Summary: Since Eri's return to Korea, things have been going well. That is until he meets her new doctor/friend. The woman thinks she knows what's best for her patient, but Ji Hoo has known his friend longer than her. They clash over what the think is best, leaving Eri and Woo Bin to sit back and watch. What will become of them? R&R
1. Chapter 1

Ji Hoo was late, something so unlike him. His day had been completely normal. He had gone to work at the hospital then to the clinic because he was behind on paperwork. Nothing was out of the ordinary. His work was moving nicely.

Then he looked at the clock and realized he had worked a little too much over. He called and told he was going to be late, and changed his clothes in the clinic. There was no point in rushing so he took a leisurely ride on his bike.

Things had been peaceful in the last few months. Eri had surprised everyone by her return to Korea after leaving with no word. She had made up with Woo Bin and they had continued living in the apartment next door to his. They didn't argue much, but he attributed that to the fact Eri was still learning how to decipher and explain her emotions. That wasn't to say they didn't get upset with her silence every now and then, but she had spent so much time not speaking about it that it was hard to break the habit.

They spent almost every evening together. Sometimes it was a full house with everyone, but most of the time it was just the three of them. When he had asked why everyone was timid about coming over together, they answered that they didn't want to do anything that would harm Eri's progress. Although if she couldn't talk to Woo Bin and Ji Hoo, she always turned to Yi Jeong, and he always kept his mouth shut about what she told him. It made it easier for her to adjust.

He pulled up in front of Dragon Café and killed the engine. He took his helmet off and carried it into the café. Waving at a few of the regulars, he went to his normal seat and slid in.

"I'm usually the one that's late," Eri said with the gentle smile that hadn't left her face since she had returned.

He smiled in return as he folded his arms on the table. "Well, I wouldn't want you waiting outside in your condition." She shook her head at him as her hand instinctively rubbed her belly.

It hadn't been too long since she'd been back that Eri had started feeling unwell. She had complained of fatigue for a couple of days but had brushed it off as work related. It wasn't until she couldn't eat and remained sick that they all took her to the hospital. And when he said all, he meant all. Woo Bin had called while they were on the way. Luckily Ji Hoo and Jan Di had been at the hospital already so they were ready.

Jan Di had been the doctor to deal with the mini crisis. Against his wishes, she had kept Woo Bin out of the examination room. He had paced the waiting room in a mini panic. No one had any idea what was going on. Was it because of the attack nearly four months ago? Was she having complications that they hadn't foreseen?

It had taken an hour, but Jan Di had returned with an irritated face. Normally she wouldn't show how irritated she was with a patient, but she glared at Eri's exam room door. She had walked over to Woo Bin and explained that nothing was particularly wrong except for malnutrition, dehydration, and the fact that Eri was four months pregnant. That had come as a shock to everyone, especially Woo Bin.

She had been taken to a room where IVs could be administered and they had all ambushed her. Well, that hadn't been a good idea because she had shut down immediately. So Woo Bin, Ga Eul, and Jun Pyo had left to get coffee as Jan Di and Ji Hoo went back to work. Yi Jeong had stayed in the room, even going so far as to lie on the bed beside her and talk nonsense.

After the initial shock, Woo Bin returned and they talked in relative comfort. The night Eri had left him in her bed had been the first night they'd been together sexually. Woo Bin blamed himself because Eri hadn't known any better. She did since she was a doctor, but it had been her first time to ever be with a man in anyway. She didn't have anything in the house to protect herself.

Though tired, Eri hadn't placed blame on anyone. She hadn't said anything, preferring to stay in silence and tucked into Yi Jeong's side. No one had bothered to get mad about that. Yi Jeong had been the silent rock she had needed when times were tough, or when Ji Hoo ticked her off and she couldn't figure out what to do.

That had been the easy part. The hardest part had been telling Woo Bin's family. Woo Bin was an only child so there was a lot of pressure on him to marry into a good family. They didn't know Eri's family that well, but they had heard of them. Ji Hoo had gone with them to disclose the information that could possibly get Woo Bin tossed from his family.

To their credit, Woo Bin's parents were more concerned with Eri's disability than Woo Bin getting a girl pregnant. The word marriage is when they had seen Eri shut down, forcing Woo Bin to say they weren't at the stage to get married. His dad didn't know how emotionally scarred Eri was and kept pushing the issue. His son had put an end to it by asking his friend to escort his girlfriend out so she wouldn't hear the yelling. Woo Bin had said his piece then left without another word.

Since then everyone had settled down. They didn't want the woman to work as much, but they found out Eri was stubborn. She was going to do what she wanted until she just couldn't do it anymore. She didn't argue with them; she just did what she wanted.

Ji Hoo accepted the latte Hoon set before him. "How is everything? I haven't seen you in a couple of days?"

"I haven't been to work. Chief Kim told me to take two days off because I could barely walk. Bo Na laughed at me for rolling around in a wheel chair in the ward. I thought it was fun," she said.

"As long as you haven't had to go into the operating room, I think you'll be fine."

"I had to do a consultation but other than that it's been pretty calm." She took a sip of her coffee then folded her hands in front of her. "I have something to ask you, but I know you too well so I'm kind of reserved about it."

"You've never asked me something before." He was very wary.

"Well, my doctor asked about you the other day. I'm not quite sure how she knows we're neighbors, but she wants to know if she could meet you. I'm not too good at reading emotions of others so I don't really know what she wants. I figured I'd run it by you before I told her anything. It's completely up to you whether or not you want to meet though. I'm not going to push it on you, although I should."

He snorted in laughter and tried to keep coffee from going anywhere but down his throat. She was totally right about all of that. He had pushed her into plenty of things in the past, one of them being the relationship with Woo Bin.

He wiped at his mouth to clear it of coffee before he looked at her. "You wouldn't do that." She shrugged but didn't confirm or deny it. "I'd feel awkward going alone. Why don't we do a double?" There was a slight fluctuation in her expression. "What?"

"If we do that, it'd be a quadruple. Jan Di and Ga Eul will insist on coming as well."

He hadn't thought about that. It would be Ga Eul who did it and Eri, though comfortable with Yi Jeong, wasn't as close to his girlfriend and Jun Pyo sometimes pissed her off. She wouldn't talk much if they came.

"All right. We'll do a dinner at your house. I'll get the ingredients. Why don't we go tonight? What's Woo Bin doing?"

"He had a late meeting then dinner with his parents."

He nodded his head. "Let's go. We can get you something to eat as we shop."

She nodded and they got up. Ji Hoo asked Hoon if he could leave his bike out front for a bit as they shopped, handing his helmet over when he was given the okay. He looped Eri's arm through his and led her down the street to the nearest grocery store. A few older ladies oohed and ahhed at the supposed couple as they walked, something that had Eri tightening her hold on him. She had made leaps and bounds in opening up to them, but public opinion was still new. Ji Hoo shifted until she was slightly behind him and he could cover her.

Deciding on something easy so Eri wouldn't be sick, they shopped for the ingredients for soup and anything else she wanted. There was kimchi in the fridge so they were okay in that aspect.

As they were moving through the aisles, one lady asked if they were happy to have a baby on the way. Eri became stoic again, leaving Ji Hoo to explain that she was just a friend and he was helping her make dinner. The woman wasn't convinced and passed by, leaving the younger woman to stare at her in a confused manner. Ji Hoo had grown up in the Korean way. Eri was French. Those two worlds colliding was an interesting thing to see.

They finished their shopping and walked leisurely down the street. Eri seemed lost in thought as she walked beside him. Ji Hoo was used to it. Since she had returned, she analyzed everything she had learned or seen. Sometimes he heard about it, but mostly she kept it to herself and used it when she thought it was relevant.

He punched in the code and let them into her house. They put the groceries away and Ji Hoo put Eri on the couch as he made dinner. She sat and watched him moving about her kitchen like he lived there. He pretty much had for nearly a year.

Fried rice completed, he joined her on the couch to eat. They were sitting way too comfortably and he could tell she was getting sleepy. So when he finished, he took her bowl, set it on the table, kneeled in front of her and began massaging her feet and ankles.

"Have you told your parents?" he asked. She shook her head.

The response was automatic. Ever since things had gone horribly wrong at dinner, Eri had refused to talk to her parents. Woo Bin had exchanged words with her father one last time before she had left. When she had come back, she had told them that Francesco had been with her every step of the way during the arraignment and subsequent sentencing. He was the only person out of her family she had anything to do with.

He could tell this was hard. Learning about how to deal with emotions and then finding out she was having a baby was taking its toll. She wasn't the best at being completely honest but she knew enough that she told Yi Jeong what was bothering her. If he thought it was dire, he told them but most of the time he kept it to himself.

"My father would assume since I'm hearing impaired that my child would be as well," she said.

"I really hate that man."

She didn't say anything more about her family as he worked his thumbs into the arches of her feet. Somewhere in between the arches and the soles, she fell asleep. Ji Hoo had seen her sleep plenty of times but this was new. When they said pregnant women had a glow, they weren't kidding. The woman's skin before him was even more luminescent than he remembered.

Carefully, he picked her up and carried her to her room. He put her in bed and closed the door with a soft click. He couldn't imagine the nervousness Woo Bin was experiencing.

As he was exiting, the front door opened. Woo Bin rubbed his face as he kicked off his shoes. Spending several hours with his parents was taking a toll on him. There was no doubt they asked many questions about Eri and how she was doing. Woo Bin hated answering questions about her because he never knew what he could and couldn't say.

"Welcome back, Woo Bin," he greeted.

His friend looked up, shock written across his face that turned into panic. "Eri?"

Ji Hoo smiled. "She's fine. I just put her in bed. We met at the café and went shopping. She's tired."

Woo Bin sighed. "I almost had a heart attack."

"She'd stitch you up. I might as well tell you. She's invited her doctor over for dinner tomorrow so don't make plans. I know how your mother can be."

"Why does her doctor want to come over?"

Ji Hoo scratched his neck. "She wants me to meet her." A smile spread across his friend's face. "Don't say a word. I'm going to head home before you spout off some nonsense."

He gathered his belongings and left his friends' place, not at all pleased that his friends were about to invade his personal life even more.


	2. Chapter 2

Ji Hoo parked his bike in its normal spot and walked into the building. He had left that morning in a decent mood. He'd gotten enough sleep and JaeJae had been somewhat calm through the night. He'd eaten breakfast and had his normal cup of coffee. He'd even said goodbye to Eri as she had gotten up to take out the trash even though it was an ungodly hour.

Work had been the problem. When he had been on rounds, a few of his nurses had started talking once again. Rumors had died down about him and Eri when Woo Bin had brought her to work one morning and kissed her right on her floor. It didn't stop them from talking. They claimed she was seeing both of them. Now Ji Hoo could handle rumors about himself, but when they claimed that he was the father of the baby, that's when he lost his temper.

He hadn't been too thrilled when he had gone to lunch and everyone had been talking about the famed Dr. Yoon Ji Hoo losing his temper over a mere rumor. There had just been no way to explain. But when the name Woo Bin had come up, immediately they realized he was part of F4, and F4 didn't share girlfriends.

And his day had just gone downhill. A patient had come in complaining of stomach cramps that turned out to be appendicitis. Another had gall stones. And a third had kidney stones. One of the other doctors had a hard time with a patient that they eventually had to restrain. Since then he'd been in a foul mood.

He didn't bother changing clothes as he punched in Eri's code and strode in her apartment. She was standing at the fridge, her rounded stomach evident in the side profile. She welcomed him quietly then pulled the water bottle out of the fridge again. Woo Bin handed her a glass and she poured some water into it. Without a word, she brought it over to him.

He watched the couple as they made dinner. Woo Bin wouldn't let her do anything, swatting her hands every time she reached for something. She looked her him every time he did it, and Ji Hoo could see her mind working the reasoning behind it. He wondered what she had come up with when she turned back to the fridge, completely forgetting about the man at her stove.

She pulled out a cake and icing and went to the table in front of the couch. It was far enough from Woo Bin that he couldn't take the spatula away from him but close enough to Ji Hoo that she could talk to him. He figured she didn't have her hearing aids in but that hadn't been a hindrance before.

He sat in the floor and took the icing bag from her as well as the second spatula. She looked up at him as he tossed a dollop on the cake. She didn't wait for his question as she started spreading it evenly while spinning the plate. It was obvious she had grown up in an artistic family by the way she moved her wrist. He was going to help but she had the entire thing frosted before he got a chance. Woo Bin brought a bowl of fruit over, oranges excluded, and he started decorating the side as she did piping on top. Ji Hoo never realized how well they worked together.

Woo Bin joined them after setting the soup to simmer, sitting beside Eri and propping up one hand behind her. Ji Hoo watched the simple things they did together and wondered how his friend was handling monogamy. It was a little too late to ask him if he was ready to be a father, but he wondered how he felt being one woman's man. Casanova was finally tamed.

The doorbell rang, bringing an end to his thoughts. Woo Bin got up and answered the door just as Eri put a plastic lid over the finally decorated cake. Ji Hoo heard the woman at the door call Woo Bin way too familiarly to suit him and he looked at Eri. She sat on the floor looking at Woo Bin with an unreadable expression. He wondered how long it would take the other man to realize it.

"How are you this evening, Dr. Kang?" he asked as he escorted her in.

"I'm doing well, Woo Bin. How are you?" the doctor replied as she pulled her shoes off.

"I'm doing well. This is my friend Yoon Ji Hoo."

"I've heard of Dr. Yoon, and his current bout of temper."

Ji Hoo bowed and said a pleasantry. He wasn't the only one who had a temper. The woman standing beside him wasn't in a good mood at the moment and one wrong word would resort in a severe setback.

Dr. Kang smiled at Eri. "How are you this evening, Eri?"

Ji Hoo looked down as Eri talked with her hand. "She said she's fine." Fine didn't mean fine in their world and the woman wasn't fine. She had already picked up on the fact that Woo Bin had been way to friendly with the other doctor.

"Why don't we skip the formality and call each other by our names. It's so much easier," Woo Bin advised.

"That's fine with me."

Ji Hoo didn't miss the way Eri retreated into stoicism at the familiarity Woo Bin showed Dr. Kang. She looked ready to walk away from the dinner but he put a hand to her shoulder. She didn't even look up at him as she walked to the table and sat on the opposite side, making sure he went with her. Woo Bin was shocked but didn't say anything as he and Ji Hoo grabbed the food from the stove.

"What is that?" he whispered.

"She knows you dated her," his friend muttered back and watched out of the corner of his eye as he cursed.

They carried the food and dishes to the table as the women sat quietly and patiently. Eri reached for the ladle and poured some soup in each bowl before passing it around. Woo Bin distributed the rice as Ji Hoo got drinks. It was like a family meal they were so coordinated.

"If we're going to be using informal speech, what is your first name?" Ji Hoo asked as they were just starting to eat.

"Kang Kyu Lee, but Eri has been calling me Kyu since she met me so you may as well," she replied with a kind smile.

"What is with Eri's nicknames for everyone? Not that I'm complaining or anything," Woo Bin totally complained.

"She can't pronounce some of our names since Korean is her second language so she calls us by nicknames. And it's easy for her to sign nicknames that have a one word in sign. Kyu means standard so she's able to sign it easier. She uses the sign for the name Benjamin when she calls for you, and the word who when she talks to me," Ji Hoo explained, using his hands to express everything he was saying. He looked to her for confirmation. She nodded and added something. "When she's talking about our friend Yi Jeong, she calls him EJ since the first part of his name has the long E sound."

"You must have spent a lot of time with her to understand all of this," Kyu mused. "No wonder there are dating rumors."

"Ji Hoo isn't dating Eri." Woo Bin finally decided it would be a good idea to speak up. "I am."

There was a look of disappointment on Kyu's face that made Eri hit the table a little too hard when she put her chopsticks down. Ji Hoo didn't look at her, but Woo Bin was shocked because under all the stoicism was a little fire raging. They probably shouldn't have unleashed her emotions because she probably wasn't able to control them once she let them out.

Ji Hoo took some pork and placed it in Eri's rice bowl, making sure to tap her on the shoulder to get her attention. "You should eat more of this since you said you were slightly anemic."

"She's better off eating beef," Kyu said. "Beef has more iron than pork. I've told her this on multiple occasions."

"She doesn't eat beef because she can't digest it. I put her on iron supplements to help with that when she first found out she was pregnant. She also takes the prenatal vitamins you advised."

Ji Hoo felt as if his own expertise wasn't being regarded. He trained just as long as Kyu to be a doctor. So he wasn't a gynecologist or obstetrician. He knew enough about the human body and how it functioned and how children grew in the womb to know what Eri would need.

"Do you even know what she's allergic to?" he asked.

"She never supplied the information."

"What kind of OB doesn't know what her patient is allergic to? Anemia is common in women her age, especially pregnant women. She can eat meat to supply her with that iron, but supplement pills are welcomed as well to support her blood flow. Eri can't eat beef, fish, shellfish, citrus fruits or onions. She can barely tolerate dairy and refuses to touch peppers unless it's kimchi. That limits what meat she can eat considerably. That means some supplements are out of the question for her. If you prescribe them, you could kill her. You would know that if you asked her any of this on a questionnaire."

Woo Bin tapped Eri's hand with his chopsticks and forced her to look at his face. "Do I need to call in a specialist for you?" She shook her head and he looked back at the OB. "If you don't ask the right questions, you could seriously hurt your patient and her baby. That's malpractice. You could be sued."

Kyu held her hands up. "I'm not the one who made the form. I just do the checkups. Talk to someone in admin about that. I don't appreciate you attacking me."

"She's had enough hardships. She doesn't need a doctor who can't take care of her."

Caught between the two men, the other woman pleaded with her patient. But Eri's face was closed off from her. The only ones who knew how to read her were the men and they had already found their target.

Woo Bin put his spoon down and turned fully to Kyu. "If anything happens to her or that child, I will sue you for everything you are worth and make sure you never work again."

"You really don't want to make an enemy of us. F4 doesn't back down when one of our own is hurt," Ji Hoo added.

"Enough," Eri said even though she had been the subject of conversation. "I don't need anyone defending me. Bin worked hard on dinner tonight, and I made a cake since he wouldn't let me lift anything. I hope you'll stay and enjoy it instead of letting these guys run you off."

Ji Hoo thought it was funny because if Kyu kept sending yearning glances towards Woo Bin, it wouldn't be the men who ran her off. The pregnant woman would. Emotions were tough to handle, and jealousy was the worst.

"I thought you wanted to meet me," he said as he thought back.

"I did. I wanted to see how Eri was taken care of when I didn't see her," Kyu replied nonchalantly.

There was nothing nonchalant about that sentence. She was insulting Ji Hoo's intelligence again, and it was starting to piss him off. Under the table, Eri grabbed his wrist and squeezed gently. It was a silent request to rein his temper in. She knew it wasn't going to ease the tension if he didn't. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly while she counted on his wrist. When she felt his heartbeat slow, she removed her hand.

Signing I'm finished, Eri stood and took her bowls to the sink. Woo Bin followed shortly after, reaching over her head to grab four cake plates. She pointed at the teacups and he pulled them down as well as the pot while she put water on to boil.

Kyu watched the love and affection of the couple in the kitchen. Eri had tamed Casanova in a matter of weeks and he even understood what she was feeling. She had never seen the woman crack a smile or get angry so she was curious as to how he knew. She had known him a long time and a woman that didn't laugh or smile was usually off his radar. What good did he find in her?

There were plenty of rumors going around the hospital about Ji Hoo and Eri. They said that they were always together that they must live together. There was another about him being the father of her baby. And yet another said that Eri was so stuck up that only Ji Hoo could understand since he was also rich. Many thought the only reason the higher ups had hired her was because they didn't want to seem racist or demeaning. No one cared about her ability to do surgery.

Ji Hoo had been the real reason she wanted to come. If he knew Eri as well as everyone said he did, he'd be the best one to tell her what to eat and how to take care of herself. She had no idea the woman had allergies because it was so hard to get her patient to talk on a good day.

"Are you finished?"

She looked up at Ji Hoo as he stood beside her. He had his bowls on his way to the kitchen and was waiting for her reply. She nodded and he took them for her. She put the lid on the pot and carried the soup to the kitchen, handing it to Woo Bin.

"Why don't you sit on the couch and wait. The tea should be ready in a moment," Eri said.

Kyu couldn't argue because it wouldn't have done any good. She went to the couch and sat down. She took time to look around the room. It was normal with pictures along the wall and on the mantle. She spotted one by the couch and picked it up. Woo Bin looked very happy in the picture as he held up a sonogram photo. The one beside it had the expectant parents standing by the ocean, probably at Jeju Island. Woo Bin was doing the best thing any boyfriend could do; he was kissing Eri's cheek.

"Jan Di insisted on that picture," Woo Bin said as he sat in the floor. He took Eri's hand and helped her sit down. "It was right after she came back from France. We went for a benefit. It was cold that day and she said we should get the photo. Ji Hoo declined but got one back at the hotel. There's a group photo in the bedroom."

"Are your parents mad you got your girlfriend pregnant out of wedlock?" Kyu asked.

"They're more concerned about her than that. I had to tell them everything, especially that she was hearing impaired due to an accident. They're soaking it in as quickly as they can." He handled the question smoothly, but there was an underlying tension that spoke mountains about how he felt about the subject.

Ji Hoo wished the night was over already. His first impression wasn't a good one and he was ready to call it a night. He could easily go home, but feared if he left Kyu would put some moves on Woo Bin. Eri had never dated before and emotions were new so she might not be able to handle it.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Kang Kyu Lee finally said her good nights and left. Ji Hoo helped clean up before he too said good night and went next door. JaeJae wasn't happy with him because he hadn't fed her since that morning and she made her annoyance known by scratching at his legs. As soon as he put the bowl down, she stuck her head in. At least he could please one obnoxious woman.


	3. Chapter 3

Woo Bin was always the center of attention when he went somewhere, even if he took a backseat to the other three when they were all together. Now was the same. He walked through the maternity ward like he owned the place instead of Goo Jun Pyo. He smiled at some of the ladies and nodded at the men who were there with their wives. He should be doing that, but Eri usually did checkups in between work and didn't tell him when they were.

He passed by a couple as they were on their way out with their newborn. Shortly that would be him. He would be taking his family out of the hospital to start a new life with them. That scene left an impression in his heart as he continued on his quest.

He stopped by the nurses' station to ask for directions. A flash of a smile and he was told everything he wanted to know. He continued down the hallway until he came to the correct door. He knocked and waited for the voice to let him in.

Kyu Lee was pleasantly surprised to see Woo Bin in her doorway. She hadn't seen him in about eight months when he suddenly appeared at the hospital. She was taken back to the day she had met him in a club. He had been so charismatic she had fallen for him immediately. But he had been a playboy and she didn't like that lifestyle. But it didn't kill the emotions.

She stood and walked over to him. When she reached for him, he grabbed her wrists and held them to her sides. The look he gave her was not inviting in the least bit.

"I'm not here to renew our relationship. I'm here as a warning," he said.

She frowned at him then stepped back, crossing her arms across her chest. "A warning? What kind of warning?"

"Eri lived her entire life in silence even though she has hearing aids. Emotions were not a concern for her. We've all been trying to get her to tell us when she's upset or angry or in pain, but it's hard. I don't need you coming in and screwing it all up because you still have feelings for me. You need to remember you broke up with me."

She was surprised. "Were you ever this frank?"

"I found someone who wants me not for me looks or my money. So she has her own limitations she has to work through. I accept that about her just like she accepts my past. Now I'm asking you nicely to stop making passes at me. She doesn't like it."

"Why won't she tell me herself?"

"She doesn't know you. Even if she did, she still wouldn't tell you. Plus I already told you. Emotions are new to her. None of us are sure when she's going to lose her temper or slide back into stoicism. I don't want anyone messing with it." He took a deep breath when it looked like she didn't care. "If you don't stop, I will change her doctor. You may be the best OB/GYN, but I will go to another doctor so fast it will make your head spin. Leave me alone."

Kyu Lee was in shock as he turned and stormed out. Since when did he become such a family man? She remembered vividly that he said he never wanted to get married. He had said girls were way too complicated for him to get married. Now he had a girlfriend and a baby on the way. Life was too funny sometimes.

She sighed and went back to work but halfway through an idea came to her. She pulled Eri's file out and read through it. Sure enough there wasn't a place that asked for food allergies, just medicine. Yoon Ji Hoo had been right. If she had prescribed any supplements such as fish oil or krill oil, Eri or the baby or both could have died. She sent an email to admission asking for a revision in the form.

She needed to go check on patients in the recovery rooms so she tossed on her lab coat and walked out of her office. A couple of the ladies were asleep when she walked into the rooms. She checked everything without waking them and charted it. The ones who wanted to talk were awake and very active. She cautioned them about taking it easy then went on her way.

After everyone was taken care of, she went up a floor to pediatrics. Eri was right there as she stepped off the elevator. She was standing by the nurses' station talking to one of the nurses. She nodded every now and then as the woman spoke to her. Kyu Lee couldn't tell if she was actually paying attention or if she was bored with it. The woman never smiled.

Eri turned and went to one of the units. Kyu Lee could hear the child respond warmly to his or her doctor. She didn't stay long as she checked vitals and made sure her patient was well taken care of. When she came out, she made eye contact with the other doctor. Like she expected, the expectant woman's face didn't change. The nurse at the desk looked over and her face changed instantly. Obviously Eri talked to her the most. She motioned the cardio doctor over. It was obvious Eri didn't want to go but she did anyway.

"Are you wearing your hearing aids?" Kyu Lee asked immediately.

"I have to at work even though I want to take them out and hide from people like you." Eri was quick and to the point. "What do you want?"

"I sent in a change for the admission paperwork. The new forms should be ready in a couple of days."

"You came all this way to tell me that?" The surgeon seemed a little miffed. "You should have made a notation in your files like I do. A couple of my patients in the past were allergic to morphine and a component of anesthesia. Instead of fully sending them under, I used a local. They still reacted to it but it was much less severe and manageable than full anesthesia. Another patient was allergic to carrots but the information didn't get handed down to nutrition and they put carrots in soup they served. Every allergy my patients have is fully documented. Whether or not the people under me look at the files I submit is not my issue. So I can fully say if a patient dies due to an allergy it isn't my fault because it was written there in black and white."

That was the most Eri had said to any doctor outside of the OR. Being around F4 had changed her. This was the angriest she had been. And yet still no emotion showed on that slightly scarred face. There was nothing more aggravating than that. She could at least put a little bit of emotion behind her words.

"I actually came here to see if you were all right. You said your feet were swelling because you had been on them at work. You can ease that by eating oranges and tangerines. Many women say those helped them the most," Kyu Lee said.

Eri sighed just as Ji Hoo walked up. "I told you the other day she can't eat citrus fruits. Last time I checked tangerines and oranges were citrus fruits," he said. He turned his attention to his friend. "Are you okay? Your feet aren't bothering you?"

The surgeon shook her head. "Not at the moment. Instead of my normal coffee, Hoon made a strawberry banana smoothie with wheat germ. It was interesting but I feel fine at the moment."

"When do you get off? You left before me this morning."

"I met Yi Jeong for breakfast. And I get off at six."

"Wait for me. I'll be done about six-thirty. I don't have to go to the clinic tonight since it's being renovated. I'll walk you home." Kyu Lee watched her but couldn't see any change. Apparently she made an expression that Ji Hoo read instantly. "Last time I asked you to wait and you didn't, you ended up with this," he ran his face along the little white scar along her jaw, "and four cracked ribs. This time wait for me."

"Fine, fine. I'll wait, but you're buying dinner tonight."

Ji Hoo smiled. "Woo Bin working late again?" She nodded. "All right. Tell me what you want when I get off." He cast something close to a sneer Kyu Lee's way as he made his way down the hall.

Eri said her pleasantries and went about her business. Kyu Lee watched for a bit as she sat down and went over some things with the nurse. She didn't look up once after she put her head down.

There was no point in saying anything more because she wasn't going to get an answer. She went on about her business, making sure the nurses under her were okay and didn't need anything.

She replayed everything over in her head. For a disabled foreigner, Eri had a good head on her shoulders. When she spoke, she was clear and direct. It didn't matter if she was emotionless.

How could someone be so expressionless when she spoke to someone else? Normal people showed what they were feeling on their faces. That woman didn't. She barely spoke to anyone, and everyone thought she was stuck up. Somehow certain people were able to pick up what she was feeling even though she showed nothing. None of it made sense so she continued without thinking too much about it.

Six o'clock rolled around and she stretched to ease her tense shoulders. Time to clock out. She walked to the front and pulled out her time card. Pushing it through the censor, it clocked her out. She relinquished her spot to the next doctor and strode out.

As she got to the front of the building, she saw Eri sitting on one of the benches in the shade. She was relaxed, something no one had ever seen before. She was looking out over the street.

Kyu Lee was about to go talk to her but stopped the instant someone crossed the sidewalk and headed straight for Eri. He was shorter than Ji Hoo and on the handsome side. He smiled as soon as he saw her and sat right beside her. He knew sign language she noticed as he started talking to her. She answered him and went about her business. He waited with her.

She didn't know how long she stood there watching the duo, but thirty minutes must have past because she heard Ji Hoo saying goodbye to some of his colleagues. They made eye contact as soon as she turned around. Ji Hoo looked over her shoulder, his face becoming a mask instantly.

"Are you following her now?" he asked.

"Who is that?" she asked in return.

He took a closer look. "That a friend of ours. She's closest to him aside from Woo Bin. She tells him everything. Now if you're done asking useless questions that are none of your concern, I'm hungry."

He walked past her straight to his friends. She watched as he touched Eri first before rounding the bench. The other guy helped her up and they walked across the street to a waiting car. She wondered why things were so great between the three of them when everyone else thought she was so stuck up she didn't have any friends. Maybe things weren't as complicated as everyone made them out to be.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** I made a mistake in the previous story and somewhere in the middle here. I put that Casanova was Woo Bin and Yi Jeong was Don Juan. I don't know if I read it wrong when I was verifying characters or not, but I'm just going to put forth as dyslexia strikes again. Thanks for the reminder! It helps me be a better writer when you're honest with me about my mistakes! Just as long as you don't get rude or nasty, I'm all for changing everything! Thanks!

(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(

"Pots, pots, pots, pots," Woo Bin chanted, forcing everyone to look at him.

They were in Yi Jeong's studio that evening waiting on the master to finish throwing a new bowl. Everything was fine until Eri showed up and started to help. Yi Jeong had smiled at them and continued kicking the wheel. They learned a long time ago that when the two of them did this, it was best to sit back and leave them alone.

So they ordered pizza, chicken, beer, and a few other random things that they spread across the empty table. They put some music on and ate in peace as the two artists worked. At some point, Yi Jeong had pressed his head against Eri's and was directing her by moving his head. They worked well together that no one wanted to mention they had plans for that evening.

Ji Hoo watched the two in perfect harmony. He was still surprised at how much Eri had opened up to Yi Jeong. What had taken him months to do, the younger man had done in a matter of weeks. Then again at the time they were all going through a lot and had to ban together to get through it.

It was still amazing to watch their hands. Yi Jeong always said you didn't need words to express what you were feeling. He had provided an escape for their friend as she learned how to use those emotions she had never felt before. Yi Jeong had the habit of grabbing her hands when she was in danger of messing up the clay. Just like he did right at that moment.

"Eri, we've done this hundreds of times. Why are your wrists suddenly so heavy?" he asked.

But of course she wasn't wearing her hearing aids. Yi Jeong sighed and placed his hands on hers again. He guided them up and out, broadening the mouth of the bowl once again. He had to catch the edges when Eri suddenly pulled her hands away. It wasn't in anger or sadness, but to hold her stomach. Yi Jeong stopped the wheel as his eyes went from her face to her arms.

No one moved, not even Woo Bin whose child it was. Yi Jeong licked his lips and looked at Ji Hoo. It was at that moment that he wished he knew more about obstetrics. He felt helpless, like a lost child again.

Luckily Jan Di wasn't as frozen as everyone else. She crawled across the floor as fast as she could and rose up right in front of Eri. She put her hands on either side of her friend's stomach and waited. After a moment or so she looked up, a bright smile on her face.

"Don't scare us like that," she muttered. Eri nodded solemnly the moved her arms again to the bowl. She kicked Yi Jeong but he looked to Jan Di before he started again. Jan Di smiled. "It's all right. She's not in any danger. She was just shocked. It must be the first time the baby has kicked like that."

A collective sigh went out. Everyone had been so worried in that brief moment. Two of the three doctors had been completely dumbfounded. Only one had been able to respond. Ji Hoo should have been able to move, but fear had ripped through him. What if something had been wrong? What would they have done? She hadn't had any other complications. Why now? What was wrong? All of those thoughts raced through his mind as soon as she stopped making the pot.

Woo Bin grabbed onto his arm, and he looked over immediately. The man had gone white the instant she had hunched her shoulders. He still hadn't recovered, and he had a death grip of Ji Hoo's arm. He was scared. Woo Bin was the toughest out of all of them. He didn't get scared.

Ji Hoo made a solemn vow to himself. He was going to learn more about obstetrics because it would make it easier on him through the rest of the pregnancy and he would be able to help other pregnant women. The only problem was he didn't want to go back to school. That would take a few more years. There was only one way.

He was going to have to talk to the woman.

Kang Kyu Lee had rubbed him the wrong way since the very begging. He was still irritated about the admission form, but she had piled it all up by not paying a lick of attention to him when he had told her what her patient was allergic to.

But that hadn't been the kicker. Woo Bin had told him he had gone to see Kyu Lee with the request to stop pursuing him. She had turned on all her charm and questioned him on why Eri was so good. That had pissed him off when he had heard it and he was still mad days later. He hated his friends being criticized. Even though Woo Bin had a shady past, he had cleaned up and was now a good guy.

He wasn't sure if working with that woman was going to work. She didn't think of others. She was only concerned about making sure she got paid. Well, he didn't know that for certain, but it's the air she put off. If she couldn't pay attention to what was going on in her patients' lives, she shouldn't be a doctor.

Eri got up and went to the sink to wash her hands as Yi Jeong picked up the pot/bowl/thing and took it into the back room where he stored everything before he fired it. He also cleaned up and changed his shirt. Other than clay under the nails, they were all ready to go.

Kyu Lee stepped off the bus right in front of the hospital and checked her phone. Still no response on the apartment she wanted to rent out. She was getting sick and tired of waiting so she was going to have to call them. Her mind made up, she crossed the street to work.

But instead of walking inside, she was caught by Ji Hoo. Just the man she didn't want to run into. She was still miffed that he had talked down to her on something she had more experience. If he wanted to by an OB/GYN, he should have gone to school for it. He would have been able to take care of his friend better.

She tried to make herself as invisible as possible, but nothing much escaped from Yoon Ji Hoo's gaze. He was way too perceptive even on bad days. It's what made him a good doctor. He could find the things that were wrong with his patient even before the others know. So when he fell into step with her, she knew he had been waiting on her.

"What do you want?" There was a bite to her voice that she never realized she had before.

"I need to talk to you about something," he answered. His tone was every bit as cold.

"What could you possibly need from me?"

"Your expertise." She stopped walking and looked at him. "Everyone knows I own and run my grandfather's businesses. I need an OB for my clinic. I get embarrassed sometimes because I don't know what I should be doing or asking. I've delivered a couple of babies because I've had no other choice, but it would be safer if I understood everything that is going on."

"You want my expertise even after you told me off?"

He stopped and pivoted until he was in front of her. "Eri is different. I'm going to be short with every doctor that comes around her. Don't take it personally. Woo Bin and Yi Jeong are worse. Now will you help me or not?"

"Are they really Casanova and Don Juan?"

"When they have to be. Since they've gotten girlfriends, they're calmed down. But I've seen them pull out all the stops when they've wanted something."

"And what about you? What will you do when you want something?"

He looked her right in the eye. "I'll do whatever it takes to get what I want. My grandfather's clinic is important to me. If you don't help, I'll go to someone who will help for a lower wage than I was going to pay you."

He was going to pay her for her help? That shocked her. Not because he was rich and could afford it, but because she knew he could care less about what she did. He didn't even like her, so why would he want her help?

"Where's your ever present partner?" she asked to change the subject.

"Eri is with Yi Jeong today. Woo Bin is out of the country and we don't like leaving her alone. Dr. Kim is training the new resident and the chief surgeon thought it would be better for everyone's favorite emotionless cardiovascular surgeon to be away. Eri's the best but her lack of people skills gets her a bad rap."

"So how about it?" he continued. "You come to clinic twice a week and give me pointers on pregnancy and I'll compensate you for all those times. If there's an emergency, you'll be the first person I call. I'll pay double for those. You'll really help me and the patients under me out. There's just one thing. You have to listen to me about Eri."

"Why do I have to listen to you? She's my patient."

"She's my friend. And you hitting on Woo Bin is not going to make her open up to you anymore than you not listening to what she's allergic to. She's a nice person but if you get under her skin by pissing her off, she won't have anything to do with you."

"Why are you always defending her?"

"She won't defend herself. Those rumors? She never said anything about them even when she heard them with her own ears. If you get Woo Bin involved, it's all over. He's so head over heels in love with her that he will yank your business out from under you because you didn't listen to his warning."

Ji Hoo left her in the main entrance as he headed for the elevator to his floor. Working with that arrogant man meant she'd have to spend more time than she already did with him. He could be like this with anyone else but her. She had worked just as hard at becoming a doctor. Why was she letting him treat her like this?

But how much would he pay if she helped him? She was in the top ten of OB/GYNs in the country. She was paid rather handsomely for that. She had her own clinic and did very well. She even volunteered a lot with the lower class. But that offer kept coming back. How much will he pay just for working two days a week? Was his clinic big enough to even be considered a clinic? There were too many unverified factors for her to make a decision right on the spot. She would have to see it before she could commit to anything.

She sighed, not wanting the day's previous events to put her in a bad mood. She had a C-Section to do that morning with four other women ready to deliver. She had to be on top of her game to make sure all ten survived. With Ji Hoo's words behind her, she went on to work with what she hoped was a cheerful gait.


	5. Chapter 5

"You know if you keep opening your mouth like that, you really are going to lose patients."

Ji Hoo looked at Jan Di as he did inventory of all his supplies. He needed to order a few more things to make it full again before summer break for students. He had seen plenty of them come in with scraped and bruised knees, fractures and many other minor issues. They were free and careless during the summer months.

Somehow, Jan Di had found out about his conversation with Kyu Lee and had hounded him for more information. There wasn't much she couldn't find out if she set her mind to it, but it turned out those two were friends since college. They had had lunch that day and Kyu Lee had spilled the beans about their conversation. If he had known this was going to happen, he wouldn't have said anything.

Why did women have to ramble about everything that went on during their day? Why couldn't they just let it slide and not gossip about everything? That had gotten under his skin every time since he had been a kid. All those times of listening to girls yap about how they were going to get into F4, or how they had been rebuffed by one of them had been one of the reasons he had taken to hiding in the fire escape. Everything had been too noisy.

Now that he thought about things, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to ask Kang Kyu Lee to work with him. She was going to bring way too much noise and annoyance with her. Sure she might be the best OB/GYN he knew but he didn't like her very much.

Jan Di cuffed him lightly across the head. "Are you even listening to me, Yoon Ji Hoo?"

"I'm listening. I just don't care. I don't particularly like Kang Kyu Lee," he replied, signing off on the order list and putting it in an envelope for the accountant to look at later.

"She's not a bad person."

"She doesn't listen."

"There is that. She seems to think she's the only one with good advice at times. Our instructors used to get on to her about it all the time. I wondered what she did after they scolded her. Now I guess she took her anger out on other things." She tapped her hand on the table. "Has she not been taking care of Eri?"

"More like hitting on Woo Bin and not listening to when someone tells her she's allergic to something."

Jan Di made a noise that was more like pity. "Probably so, but I heard Eri told her off a few days ago on the pediatric floor. She essentially said she was an idiot for not checking with her patient instead of relying on the admission paperwork. But you know Eri; she doesn't come out right away with it. She hides it under fact. It hurts worse than being called an idiot because once you realize what she's said, she's gone."

"I think she learned that from us."

The woman laughed. "Probably Jun Pyo more than anyone even though they've barely been around each other."

"She's gotten our worst habits."

They worked a little longer then Ji Hoo closed the clinic. They had to meet everyone for dinner since it was their designated weekly time. No one was supposed to miss unless they were sick or dead. Even being out of the country wasn't tolerated. Jun Pyo had tried that once and they had all gotten him for it. He was still wary of having ice water dumped on him.

They decided to meet at the coffee shop Eri and Woo Bin frequented and go to a new restaurant down the street a bit. One of the chefs was a friend of Yi Jeong's and he had invited them to try it out first. Normally they wouldn't go, but their normal haunts were getting too packed as people tried to get away from the heat.

Hoon greeted them as they walked through the door. Every time he saw him, Ji Hoo was grateful he had been on their side through everything. After Eri had left for France, her father Choi Hyun Won had showed up at the café asking for her address. He had wanted to go see Woo Bin to warn him away from his daughter. Hoon, being the frank man that he is, stood up to him and said everything he felt. None of them had said anything specifically to him, but he had lingered around their conversations enough to know. He had kicked Hyun Won out as soon as he said his piece.

Much like now. As soon as they walked in, Hoon greeted them happily. For a single father, he did the best he could, and his best was this café. He handed them iced coffees out of habit and went about his business. Everyone else was already gathered at the back booth when they walked up.

Everyone was talking at once save one person, but it didn't matter. They were all excited to be together again. Not like it wasn't that long ago when they were all together but it didn't matter to them.

"Are we ready?" Jan Di asked.

"No, we're waiting on another person," Woo Bin said. Everyone looked at him except the person who should be looking at him. Like usual, Eri was oblivious to the conversations with her headphones and new tablet.

"Who are we waiting on?" Jun Pyo asked, his temper about to get the best of him.

"Sorry, I'm late." Ji Hoo cringed at the voice he knew way too well. Turning around, he saw Kyu Lee standing there in what she apparently assumed was an appropriate dress. "I didn't miss anything did I?"

"Not at all," Jan Di said, but it wasn't her cheerful voice. She was warier than ever. So she hadn't invited her. That left one person.

"Let's go eat." Woo Bin pulled on Eri's hand to get her attention then to pull her out of the booth. She went with him quietly, eyes meeting Kyu Lee's face instantly.

No one missed the slight shock before Eri allowed Woo Bin to lead her from the café. They shared glances with each other before following the couple. Ji Hoo could already feel that this night was going to end in horror.

He hated when he was right. They arrived at the restaurant and Kyu Lee immediately started complaining about the atmosphere of the place. It was too dimly lit and no one could see where they were going. As soon as they were seated, she complained the water glasses were too dingy. Then the plates were too dirty. It kept going on and on and on.

Then when dinner was served she nitpicked all of her food. Everyone looked at Woo Bin because they all knew he was the culprit. He refused to meet anyone's eyes. They could all see why he was wary of her.

When the waiter passed by, Eri got his attention then turned to Ji Hoo to sign. He read the flying hands then turned to the man. "She says you put oranges on the side salad. She can't eat them. Plus it should be chicken instead of fish."

The waiter took the entire plate back leaving the expectant woman with nothing to eat. Yi Jeong, who was on her left, cut a piece of his meat and set it on the salad plate beside her. She smiled at him and took it gratefully. She would have asked for a bit of Woo Bin's but he ordered fish so she couldn't eat it.

"Why can't they get the orders right?" Kyu Lee muttered.

"Why can't you close your mouth?" Ji Hoo snapped. Everyone looked at him. "You haven't said a kind thing since you got here. It's starting to get under everyone's skin."

He was tired of listening to someone complain as much as this woman had. No one else had said anything about any of the stuff she had spouted out. No one wanted to since it was a new restaurant trying to get its feet under it. How could someone who didn't know food be so critical about things?

Kyu Lee watched Woo Bin carefully. He met her gaze and held it, something he had never done before. He was doing this on purpose. He knew that no one really knew that he had dated her for an extended period of time. Usually his conquests didn't last more than a few weeks, but they had dated for nearly a year. She had broken up with him after finding out that his family was tied to the mafia. That, and another girl had come into his view.

"Woo Bin," she said batting her eyes at him, "do you remember going to Sky Rose Garden on our first date? You were so nervous you dropped water all over yourself. Then there was Namsan Tower. I'm pretty sure our lock is still there."

Ji Hoo glanced at Eri as the woman kept talking. He was certain she had her hearing aids in, but he couldn't tell what she was thinking. Yi Jeong's hand moved under the table as he glared down to the other end. This was going to end horribly.

Jan Di jumped in to save the situation. "You weren't invited here to give a background on your past relationships. I'm not sure why you were invited here, but that wasn't it. If you need to talk to Woo Bin, do it somewhere else and not here."

Kyu Lee realized what they were doing a little too late. By Woo Bin inviting her to dinner, he had proved what he had told her twice. No matter what she said or what she did, F4 was a family unit. They had completely surrounded the woman she was targeting even though they were sitting at a square table.

Complete and utter shock stole across her face as she watched the woman down the table turn her head and wipe at her eye. Yi Jeong spoke to her then lifted his head and glared at her. Casanova was gone and in his place was an angry potter. He pushed his chair back and stood, pulling her along with him.

Ji Hoo lost his temper as he watched three of his friends leave the restaurant. He shoved his chair back a lot harder than Yi Jeong had and stalked to the other end of the table. He grabbed Kyu Lee's hand and jerked her up, yanking her behind him. He pulled her into a quiet corner away from everyone and put his back to the entrance.

"I told you to leave Woo Bin alone. Baiting him at dinner isn't the right way to get into anyone's good graces. I told you that woman has a hard time with her emotions and here you are bringing up something publicly that has no reason to be public. What happened between you and Woo Bin in the past is just that. It's the past. He doesn't want you anymore, if he even did in the first place so destroying his relationship is petty and childlike. For an intelligent woman, you are sure dumb," he fumed.

"You have no right to say that to me," she scolded. "I'm not the one who keeps a woman locked in her emotions."

"It's not me who keeps her locked in. It's people like you who can't see what's going on and keep your mouth shut that keeps her introverted! Woo Bin has told her everything he has ever done with a woman because he refused to keep it secret, and here you are spouting off things that you did nearly three years ago. We all have enough issues going on right now. We're all worried that something will happen to her or that child, and you as her doctor aren't making anything better!"

He was so mad his face was turning red. Kyu Lee wanted to leave, but he blocked her path. He wasn't the type to get violent, but his words were weapons enough to make anyone fear him.

"When will be a good time for me to come to your clinic?" she asked.

Ji Hoo just stared at her, dumbfounded. "What? You think I'm going to work with you after this stunt? You've really gone crazy."

"You're the one who said he needed an OB for his clinic."

His mouth worked but he couldn't find the words. He did need an OB but not one who would put her emotions before her patients.

He shoved his finger in her face. "I need someone who will listen no matter what they think is right. You don't have that capability."

She was always right, especially when it came to her patients. How could he say she wasn't? He didn't know what she went through in a day. Well, maybe he did since he was a general practice physician instead of specialist like her or Eri. It still didn't give him the right to talk down to her like that.

"Woo Bin and Eri are going to change doctors so you won't have to worry about them," he announced suddenly. "Don't try to change their minds. It won't work. They have an appointment tomorrow."

He walked out of the restaurant without another word. But something strange happened then. Kyu Lee's heart finally resumed its normal beating. What in the world was going on for that to happen?


	6. Chapter 6

Kyu Lee knocked on the door and stepped back as she waited for someone to answer. Ji Hoo had been really mad the last time she had seen him, and for some reason it had irked her. It had irked her so badly that she had decided to take action on it.

She'd had to work that morning at the clinic but her afternoon had been free. She knew doing this was going to either get her in trouble or scolded by someone who had suddenly become scarier to her than her boss. But it wasn't a bad kind of scary, more like the kind of scary a woman gets when she doesn't want a man to see as less than a woman. How Yoon Ji Hoo had become that she didn't know.

The door opened, and she stood face to face with Woo Bin. He seemed surprised, but that wore off as soon as it registered. He stared down at her for a minute before turning to close the door again.

"I'm not here to see you," she said reflexively before the door closed. He paused but his indifference turned to suspicion. "Is Eri home?"

"If you're here to brag about our relationship, you can just leave."

Kyu Lee held up the to-go carrier. "I'm actually here to clear the air between us. I can't do that if you kick me out."

"Do you really want to do that? We have guests inside.'

"If I don't, I'm pretty sure it will eat me alive."

Woo Bin knew she had never said sorry in her life, not even when she was wrong. Either way, he stepped back and allowed her passage. Like normal, she kicked off her shoes and strode in. He hadn't been kidding. They did have guests, two of them.

Eri appeared in front of her, head tilted to the side in confusion. The last time she had been here had been to have dinner with them and that hadn't gone well. She had too many things to make up for so she might as well start from the beginning.

Although the other two sitting across from her at the table weren't going to make that easy. Yi Jeong and Ga Eul were fierce separated but scary united. They had been the ones to take their friend out during dinner a few nights past, and they wouldn't be afraid to do it again.

Woo Bin stepped beside her and started to sign. She watched him as he spoke in the way she could understand. When his hands dropped, she nodded then disappeared into the bedroom for just a moment. Ga Eul vacated her spot by Yi Jeong so Eri could sit down. She sat on the couch beside Woo Bin instead.

So they were using their best weapon against her if she crossed the line. Though he was quiet, Yi Jeong had a mouth on him when he needed it. There was a reason Eri was always with him when something bad or disconcerting happened.

Kyu Lee sat down across from the two and passed Eri one of the coffees. "If I had known you were going to be here, I would have brought you one."

Yi Jeong waved his hand, fake smile plastered on his face. "No need. I've had enough today and Eri's tea is just enough."

She nodded at him and turned to Eri. She was messing with her ears so she must have put her hearing aids in. "Can you hear me?" The other woman nodded. "I came here today to explain all of this to you."

"Explain what?" she asked.

Kyu Lee folded her hands around the coffee she had bought for herself. "I'm sure you've already noticed, but Woo Bin and I used to be in a relationship. I'm sure if you had known that you wouldn't have come to me to be your doctor. At first when I found out, I was jealous because the Woo Bin I knew didn't want to settle down with just one woman. He wanted to keep seeing as many women as he could until his parents just got so irritated with him. Even then he was still going to do it. So when I saw him the night I came for dinner I was shocked."

She knew she had Eri's attention even if the expression didn't change. "At first I wanted to get in the way and see how strong your relationship is. There was no way he would be serious about one girl. He had never been that way so to see him so doting was a shock. For him to know how to handle your disability and what you can and can't eat meant he spent so much time with you for him to learn."

"It's easy to learn if you ask. Ji Hoo was the one who asked the questions after he nearly sent me to the hospital two days into being neighbors," Eri answered. "I want to know why you felt you had to test me. Surely you hadn't listened to all of the rumors at the hospital."

"It's hard not to listen to them. You were brought in even though you only had a few years of residency and the chief of staff made all of floor heads learn sign language to accommodate you. Then there was the one about you not caring about anything other than your job. You never smiled or spoke unless you were spoken to, and certain things just didn't pass your radar. It made it harder to talk to you."

"I don't talk to people I don't like or know." That was one of the bluntest things she had ever said. "As for whether or not I can talk, it doesn't matter. Not all hearing impaired people are deaf and mutes. I'm neither. I can hear when I have these in and I can talk regardless. Just because I pick and choose those times doesn't mean I'm incapable."

"And since I'm on the topic, I didn't hear what you said that night at dinner, but by the faces of everyone around, I knew it wasn't appropriate."

Yi Jeong looked at her. "I thought you had your hearing aids in."

"I did but the clattering of plates and other tableware forced me to turn them down. I essentially couldn't hear anything. I heard the dull roar of people talking but couldn't understand them. Everyone's expression gave away what they were saying."

"Then why did you cry?"

"Because of him." She inclined her head backwards towards the couch.

With those three words, Kyu Lee realized how much love and respect Woo Bin and Eri had for each other. He was willing to risk his credibility with her to prove a point. Eri believed in him enough to know that he wasn't going to risk their relationship.

She had been a fool to think she could drive a wedge between them. She had heard all about Jan Di and Jun Pyo's rocky relationship from both Jan Di and Woo Bin. In the end they hadn't let parents or anyone else get in their way. Not even Ji Hoo would.

For some unknown reason, the man's face popped into her head. He was irritating and forward and annoying. He thought he could do things that were out of his knowledge. He thought he knew what was best for everyone involved. He frustrated her even when he wasn't present.

She didn't realize she was being completely open until Eri touched her hand. She was way too perceptive to be emotionless.

"If you like him that much, just tell him," she said.

"I never said that," she blustered.

"It's no use denying it. It was written all over your face," Yi Jeong added. "She may not talk much or understand what she sees, but Eri can read emotions. It's what's kept her grounded all these years."

"Speaking of that, it must be hard to understand your emotions."

It gave her a few precious moments to school her thoughts and get them off of Ji Hoo. She didn't want anything more to do with him if she could at all possible. He was so persistent though.

"It's not easy since I've kept them hidden for twenty year. I'm not even sure hidden is the right word for it. I guess I just didn't realize I had them, or that I could use them. It feels weird expressing them so most of the time I don't," Eri explained. "But stop trying to get off topic. First, I accept what you're trying to say. Second, ask him out."

Yi Jeong shook his head as Woo Bin laughed. "He won't be very appreciative if he finds out you said that."

"As long as it gets him off my back, I don't really care. He's starting to grate on my nerves."

The door decided to beep right at that moment. Ji Hoo's voice rang out as he came through the entryway. He stopped as soon as he rounded the corner.

"Why are you here?" he asked as soon as he saw her.

"The better question is why do you know her pass code?" she retaliated.

They started a heated argument right there, neither one backing down. The others watched it like a ping pong match, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. It lasted so long that Eri got up to do the dishes and collect the trash, which Woo Bin took out.

Finally Yi Jeong got in the middle, calling it petty and childish. They wouldn't listen so he slammed his hand on the table for effect.

"Okay, if you two can't get along here, we're going to send you out in public where you have to. Eri, plan a very elaborate double date for tomorrow evening. Use your wildest imagination," he said.

"Please don't make her do that," Woo Bin muttered as he shed his shoes.

"Too late. I hope you two enjoy each other enough to go out."

Ji Hoo closed his eyes as he realized he may have just ended his very existence. Damn Kyu Lee.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Since I've barely been able to move I've been able to write. Sorry this chapter is a bit later than usual, but I was doing as much research as I could on popular places in Seoul. That was time consuming but I wanted to make this chapter good for you.

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He couldn't believe what he was doing. He should have fought harder against his friends to get out of it, but once they set their minds to it he was a goner. There was nothing he could have done to get out of it. He could have pitched a fit, but that would have gotten him cuffed across the head and dragged along anyway.

Why did his friends have to be so dang stubborn? Why couldn't he have chosen better friends in the first place? No. It wasn't his friends. It was their respective others. Jan Di wasn't the issue. She had her own version of the truth. It was Eri and Ga Eul. Even though they weren't very close, when they put their minds to something it went through. There was no stopping them.

That's how he ended up at Namsangol Traditional Folk Village. Woo Bin had wanted to show Eri about her heritage that she had missed growing up in France. The village had been his best shot. They had taken their cars instead of the train. Woo Bin had driven his yellow Lotus Elise SC. He was going to have to expand when their baby was born because a two-seater just wasn't going to cut it, but for now they were fine. Ji Hoo had driven his Mini Cooper because he didn't feel boxed in. He was going to drive his bike but figured Mrs. Priss would have a fit about helmet hair.

They had arrived a little after the village opened for tourists. Woo Bin had led Eri to the first building, leaving Kyu Lee and Ji Hoo to follow in their footsteps. It was supposed to be a double date, but the second couple wasn't getting along. They couldn't figure out what they wanted to do. Both had wanted to see different things even though they were Korean through and through.

Of course as they were wandering around, they found Woo Bin standing against a pillar watching something. It was Eri in her second natural habitat. She was learning how to make a pot from the Joseon Era and was so engrossed in it she forgot everything else, including that they were supposed to be on a date. If only Yi Jeong had been there to route her to another location. Woo Bin had just shrugged and had said that her feet had been bothering her. With a justified explanation, the other supposed couple went about their business.

Of course, Kyu Lee wanted to do something shopping and mentioned Ssamziegil. It was only two miles away so they could do it. Woo Bin checked on Eri and made sure she was up for it before they made any definite decisions. When she said she was fine, they went with the express feeling of eating first. None of them had had breakfast, opting to pick up coffee since three of them lived so close to their favorite coffee shop.

Lunch was a light affair since it was so hot. Maybe going somewhere cooler would have been better, but no one wanted to interrupt the pleasant mood. It wasn't going to last but they enjoyed it nonetheless.

Shopping was much harder than anyone thought. There were just so many things that grabbed everyone's attentions. They were just like kids in the candy store. Well the women were. The men didn't care too much. They could buy whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. The women were much more nitpicky.

They eventually ended the shopping spree when Eri couldn't walk any more. Woo Bin wanted something to drink so they decided to find a café where they could have cake and iced coffee or whatever.

They hadn't been sitting very long when Woo Bin pulled out a box. He had taken Eri's hand and set the box in her palm. She had given him a look then opened it. She had looked up at him again when he had reclaimed the black rectangle and pulled out a broad ring. He slipped it onto her left ring finger then added one to his. He had bought couple rings and hadn't told her.

They had taken their time eating cake and having coffee, laughing at some of the stupid things that were said. Well, three were laughing as the other tried to figure out how to react. No one pushed her, opting to let things ride as they were. Things were going too well to upset anything.

As the day drew closer to an end, Woo Bin decided to take Eri home. Ji Hoo had asked him not to, not verbally of course. But his friend was more worried about his girlfriend than paying attention to him. They left him and Kyu Lee to figure things out on their own.

And that's how they ended up at dinner at the Sky Rose Garden. They were watching the sun set as they waited for their meals to arrive. Ji Hoo was surprised at how calmly this day had gone by. There had been no arguments, snarky comments, or backhanded compliments. They had actually enjoyed each other's presence.

"You know," Ji Hoo turned his attention to his date, "I understand now why the four of you are so protective of that woman. She's really headstrong but silent. She's as quirky as you said even without showing emotions."

"That's not all about her, but you have a good start," he admonished then turned his gaze back to the scenery.

"Why didn't you go after her? Why let Woo Bin be the one to sweep her off her feet?"

"Eri didn't choose me for that kind of relationship. It wasn't the same as Woo Bin, or even Yi Jeong for that matter. I was there to watch out for her during work, Yi Jeong when she had emotional outbursts, and Woo Bin for the rest. She has to choose you before anything can start."

He had wondered plenty of times why Eri hadn't chosen him. Why had it been Woo Bin? He had never played with anyone's emotions as the Don Juan had. But as he had watched them together through the winter months he figured out why. Woo Bin didn't expect anything. He let her do her thing her way, and if he was upset about it he let it slide. Ji Hoo couldn't do that.

"Why are you single?" he asked suddenly.

"My last boyfriend was abusive," Kyu Lee supplied. "He would get drunk and come to my place expecting what he wanted. If I didn't give it to him, he'd hit me. My neighbor called the police and he was arrested. Since then I've been single and focusing on my job. What about you? Why are you single?"

"Because Jan Di married Jun Pyo."

Kyu Lee made a face. She could see how he would like Jan Di. She was funny and spirited. She could make anyone smile with just a look, and her lightheartedness was contagious. Ji Hoo wasn't any of those things. He was broody and moody and took things too seriously.

They lapsed into unpleasant silence and remained that way until their meal was over. Ji Hoo took her home even though it was still early. There was nothing else he could do because if he did he would lose his temper. And what woman made him lose his temper this much?

"You're such an idiot," Yi Jeong said as he rolled a cart of fired pottery into the main part of the studio.

Today was a rare day in which everyone was off. Yi Jeong had invited them to his studio to help paint all the pots he had just fired. He wasn't going to show them in his newest showing so what did it matter if his friends were involved?

They all sat around tables laden with paint and brushes and stands so they wouldn't bump into each other's. Yi Jeong had supplied them with smocks and old shirts so they wouldn't get their clothing dirty.

Usually the women were with them, but today they had sequestered around the other table. Jan Di and Ga Eul were talking in hushed tones and Eri wasn't saying a thing which meant she had taken her hearing aids out. Silence and art seemed to go hand in hand with her. But she was watching the other two's mouths as they spoke. With them taken care of, it seemed they could deal with other things.

"How am I an idiot? The woman gets on my nerves," Ji Hoo said as he rolled up his sleeves.

Yi Jeong set a pot in front of him. "Ji Hoo, the woman likes you. She's just jealous because you're always with Eri and Woo Bin who seem to have the perfect relationship."

Woo Bin dipped his brush in the acrylic paint in front of him. "Our relationship is far from perfect. She yelled at me for not putting my dirty laundry in the basket."

"The fact that she yelled at you is astonishing. I don't think we've seen her yell before."

"Don't be surprised. She yells at me all the time."

"She is pregnant with your child," Ji Hoo said as he started painting a meticulous design.

Woo Bin made a noise that was closer to passing gas than anything else. "You won't be saying that when your wife has your kid."

"That's if I get married."

His friends turned to look at him simultaneously. Out of the four of them, he was the only one without any marriage plans. Jun Pyo was already married, Woo Bin would be next if he got his way, and Yi Jeong would spend way too much money of Ga Eul to make her happy. He didn't have to ask to know that they worried that he would never meet someone.

He knew his grandfather had wanted him to meet a nice girl, settle down and have the family he had never had, but that was a little far away. He had to find the right girl first.

"That's not the most pressing part," Woo Bin said. He lowered his voice and leaned in, forcing the rest of them to do so as well. "Did you know Eri's birthday is next week?"

"What?" all three, even Jun Pyo, chorused.

"Yeah, I just found out last night. Francesco left a message on her phone saying he would be back for her birthday. We've been together since before Christmas and I never knew her birthday."

"We have to do something," Yi Jeong said.

"No. There's no way she's going to want to do anything. She doesn't even want to go to work of a morning and she loves those kids."

"What if we planned something at my house," Ji Hoo opted. "It's next door so she won't have to go far. We can plan it all in secret."

"She's going to kill us if she figures it out. She may not listen to us half the time, but she's quick as a whip," Woo Bin warned.

"That's true, but you have to go home with her," Yi Jeong reminded. Woo Bin made a sulky face at him but went back to painting.

"I have a perfect idea," Jun Pyo said. He hadn't said much so they were surprised when he opened his mouth. Normally he would be the loudest one there, but work had tired him. "Ji Hoo has to invite his lovely OB/GYN to the party. No ifs, ands, or buts about it."

The other two were all in agreement, but Ji Hoo snarled at the comment. The less he saw of the woman the better he would be. He couldn't be held responsible for the things he would say to her when she opened that big mouth of hers.

As the others painted in peace, Ji Hoo was left to figure out how he was going to keep Kyu Lee from coming to the party. He was going to have to talk to her because she would talk to Jan Di first who would learn it from Jun Pyo. That was going to be fun all on its own. Why did life have to hate him so?


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** Just a quick shout out to jayjayzek for not only commenting like crazy but also being considerate. I'm doing better. Thanks for your concern! And I hope everyone keeps reading these. Feel free to give me ideas for a new one after this.

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Kyu Lee looked around the neighborhood, completely confused as to why the man had his clinic here. It was a smaller, lower income neighborhood where both parents worked for a living. It was so much farther from where he lived she wondered why he kept it open.

As she walked inside, she saw only a handful of people waiting, mostly those who were elderly. There were a few expectant mothers with their older children. A nurse was walking around getting vitals and recording them on the list of names she had on a clip board. A young high school student was running around handing out plastic cups to everyone over the age of ten and cookies to those younger.

There was yet another teenage over in the corner playing with some children. She was singing songs to them and leading them in the hand motions. The kids loved it enough they kept going. Everyone seemed to be at ease.

Jan Di came out at that moment and called for another person. With the same gentle smile, she led the elderly woman back, talking the entire time. The atmosphere was a peaceful one, not unlike the pregnancy clinic she worked. People seemed excited to be there.

A young woman walked in wearing the Shinhwa High School uniform. She looked around unsteadily then took a seat beside an older woman. Immediately the woman started talking to her, but the young woman ignored her. She was too nervous to be a regular and too far away from the school. Something was going on with her.

She heard Ji Hoo's voice come from somewhere near. He appeared, escorting an elderly gentleman down the hall. They talked on good terms, smiling at each other like they were related. The man hugged Ji Hoo, who returned it with as much force he could have broken the man's bones.

She caught his attention as soon as he sent the man out the door. He didn't scowl or make any sort of face at her. Instead he beckoned her over then led her down the hall to the supply room. He closed and locked the door.

"Before you start ranting," she began, "I came here to see what it looked like, to see what you would need."

"I need a lot of things, but insurance won't cover it," he supplied, not even bothering to argue. "I need a portable ultrasound machine, IV stands, needles, and other miscellaneous items. The little items I can get, but the ultrasound machines are expensive. I have to send my pregnant patients to another clinic that's further away and way more expensive. I can only do so much."

"What does Jan Di do?"

"She volunteers with the older patients. Eri comes in and deals with the patients with heart disease and any other cardiovascular issues. If they need pacemakers, I have to send them elsewhere, but everyone loves the women."

"So they don't get paid." Ji Hoo shook his head as he took off his glasses and rubbed his face. "Then I have a solution. The money you were going to pay me? Open an account and put that money back for an ultrasound machine. I'll look for the best priced one."

"I don't have the room for it."

"The portable ones are about this big," she held her hands up in front of her, "and it can be stored like you would store your medical bag. The gel and other things that go along with it are cheap."

Ji Hoo was obviously giving it some thought. He always did this thing with his finger when he was thinking, running his thumb along his mouth. "How much would it cost?"

"It depends on the brand and the machine they can go from eleven thousand Won to three million and above. It just depends on what you want. How much were you thinking of paying me?"

"You would receive nearly two million Won a month. It's less than what you're making at the hospital but it's all I can afford at the moment and it's more than you would make anywhere else. Until I get the second floor fully renovated, my bank is tied."

"Save that money. You would be able to buy a high end machine. I'll work those two months for free."

He scowled then. "I thought I told you I didn't need your help."

She stepped in close to him so she could whisper. "You have a patient from Shinhwa High School. By the looks she's casting around, I think she may be in trouble. Shinhwa is a pretty good distance from here, so something must be going on with her. Once she finds out it's you, she won't come back. If I were her, I wouldn't either. Who knows what would go around the school."

She hadn't gone to Shinhwa, but she had heard all about it. F4 had ruled the school with an iron fist, picking on people until they transferred or dropped out completely. Jun Pyo had caused so much pain and suffering, and yet still people had wanted to be their friends. Until Geum Jan Di had showed up, there had looked like no one was going to be able to stop them.

They were the most famous men in South Korea because of their money and good looks. Everyone wanted to be with them. Even now, women did their best to break up the happy couples even though Jun Pyo and Jan Di were married. Now even the illustrious Song Woo Bin was taken. That put a damper on any girl's plans.

Ji Hoo rubbed his neck. Everything she had said was true. He'd had some patients from Shinhwa come in but left immediately after finding out that it was his clinic. He understood the reasoning. They would think he would spill to the school what was wrong with them. He firmly believed in doctor/patient confidentiality, and he wasn't the typed to spread baseless rumors. He had seen what those did to people and had vowed to never be the cause.

Whenever a Shinhwa patient came, he would always send them to Eri if she was in the building. She wasn't from Korea so they trusted her so much more than him even though she wasn't a general physician. They liked how compassionate and calm she was and believed she wouldn't tell anyone. Ji Hoo had to see all their files since they were under his clinic but he never said anything.

He needed someone his pregnant patients could turn to. He wasn't a woman obviously so he needed someone they could relate to. He could handle the general things but not the obstetrics.

He looked at the waiting Kyu Lee and mentally slapped himself. This woman was going to kill him.

"Go see her. There's an extra exam room across from Jan Di's. Use it. Everything you'll need is in here," he motioned to the supplies around them, "but make sure you mark what you use so I can keep up with inventory. Prescription pads are in here as well if you ever need to write one."

Ji Hoo reached over and unlocked the door, but in doing so, he brushed against Kyu Lee's skin. Goose bumps skittered along his flesh, making him shiver. No one had had that much impact on him since Jan Di. Eri hadn't even done that.

Kyu Lee wasn't going to admit it, but her heart started to race as soon as Ji Hoo reached around her. Why of all people did this man have such a strange effect on her? He hated her and she wished he would turn around and go back to his own business, but her body said otherwise. It was always the thing to betray her first. It's what had gotten her in trouble the last time.

She left the supply room and put her coat and bag on a hook just outside. Ji Hoo handed her a lab coat and disappeared into his office. She took a deep breath then went out to the waiting room. She took the Shinhwa student by the hand and led her into the free exam room.

"My name is Dr. Kang. I noticed you're wearing a Shinhwa uniform. You're pretty far from where you live aren't you?" The young woman nodded. "Tell me your name and what's wrong. I may be able to help."

The woman was nervous, as was expected. She looked around the room as if there were cameras around that would capture what she was going to say. The only camera was outside looking at the door.

Kyu Lee took the woman's hand. "Your secret is safe with me. All you have to do is tell me what happened and what's going on. I won't even tell your parents. But you can't fix it if you don't tell me what's wrong."

"My name is Kim Moon Jae. I'm a third year at Shinhwa High School. I skipped my last period," she whispered.

The doctor nodded. "So you think you might be pregnant." The woman nodded. "I'm going to ask you some questions before I do anything else. Answer as honestly as you can."

It took some time, but Kyu Lee finally got the whole story out of the student. She took blood and urine samples and told the woman to come back in a week. She handed her a card with her name and number and escorted her out. Feeling accomplished she took all the information she had received from the student and logged it into an admin file, making sure to add things the person was allergic to.

That's how the day continued. Three more pregnant patients came in and Ji Hoo ushered them her way. Since she didn't have an ultrasound machine, she had to use her hands and stethoscope to make sure the women and their babies were healthy. So far only one was suffering from iron deficiency. She prescribed an iron supplement to help with that.

Time moved swiftly. Finally the last patient was seen out and Jan Di locked the doors. The volunteers started cleaning the clinic as the three doctors sat in Ji Hoo's office going over charts and inventory. Kyu Lee realized Ji Hoo liked to keep on top of everything so he didn't run out.

They catalogued everything, even the tiniest piece of information. Kyu Lee figured out how hard these two worked, and if she was smart, she would piece Eri into the mix. They worked well together, as friends and colleagues. It was no wonder the hospital tried their best to keep them together. They fed off each other and made the atmosphere at work better.

Jan Di stretched and let out a groan. "I better go. Jun Pyo will be mad I didn't answer the majority of his texts today."

"He should know how busy a person you are. He runs a whole company," Ji Hoo replied.

"He's still a teenager at heart. Well, I'll see you tomorrow at the hospital, if he lets me leave the house."

"I'll send Eri over. He can't refuse her."

They heard her laughter as she left the clinic. Ji Hoo waited until the kids were finished cleaning before locking up. He looked up at the sign with such longing Kyu Lee wondered what he was thinking.

When he finally looked down at her, the smile on his face was so sad it broke her heart. She didn't know much about him, but she knew he treasured this place.

"Let's get some coffee," she requested.

He shook his head. "I'm too hot for coffee, even iced. I need to get ready for tomorrow. There will be a delivery for this place and I need to be here. Plus the construction team will be back tomorrow. I want to be here when they come."

She knew something else was bothering him but he wasn't going to say. He did that quite a bit she noticed. When there was something he didn't want to say, he got this longing look in his eyes. It matched the one he had at that moment.

"What is it?" she asked. He looked down at her. "You get this look when you're upset or thinking too hard about something."

"I keep thinking about Woo Bin and Eri," he said.

"What about them?"

"I keep hoping nothing will happen to them that would force their child to be alone in the world."

That was the deepest thing he had ever said to her. Normally he would yell and fuss at her for doing or saying something stupid or going after Woo Bin. But right now he was so raw she was certain she could flay him alive if she wished.

She wanted to touch him but knew he would push her away. Something inside him was working and he couldn't control it just yet. She would stand back to allow him time to come to terms with it himself. He would tell her if he wanted to, but right now was not the time to be nagging him. It would cause adverse effects.

So she nodded. "I'm sure nothing will. Well, I have to head home. I have a busy day tomorrow. Take care."

Ji Hoo watched the irritating woman walk down the street. Something was up about her. He wasn't going to place too much stock in it, but the way she had looked at him told him she knew something otherwise she wouldn't have ran away as fast as she had.

"Just ask me," he muttered before he slung his leg over his bike.


	9. Chapter 9

"Is there anything you can tell me about Ji Hoo?"

Eri looked at Kyu Lee over the mug in her hand. She had called the OB when she had been experiencing some cramping since her new doctor hadn't been available. After verifying that it was due to dehydration again, Kyu Lee had hooked her up to an IV drip and made tea. They were sitting in her living room at the moment.

In the last few weeks, Kyu Lee had taken time to get to know her former patient and colleague. She had already known Eri was like the others at the hospital, that she was quiet, well-mannered, highly intelligent and very perceptive. But she had started to find out that the woman was very expressive even if it didn't show on her face. Her hands and eyes told everything she was feeling even if she didn't move her body. She was very adept at reading people and filing it away for later.

She had found out about the woman's past just by listening to conversations and making inferences. She had asked when she was curious and had found that Eri was very honest. Apparently she had lived her life without lying and hadn't cared what others thought about that. It's how she became so good at what she did.

Kyu Lee had taken for granted things like family and friends. She had had them all her life; loving parents who doted on her and friends she could go out with and cause a ruckus. She had had a very normal childhood, so seeing the effects of what not having those things had on a person opened her eyes. Eri wasn't stuck up; she just didn't form attachments to anything she didn't deem as necessary. It shamed her to know it had taken her this long to understand that, especially when she thought back to all the rumors she had heard and believed.

When she had first started coming around, Woo Bin had been very wary. He had stayed home a few times to prevent an argument. When nothing of the sort erupted, he had loosened up and allowed her to be around his girlfriend without so much as an argument.

There wasn't as much tension as there used to be. She could comfortably sit and have a conversation without fear of being tossed out or yelled at.

"What do you want to know?" Eri asked, pulling her feet up on the couch.

"Is he always that stubborn?"

"It depends on the situation. He'll normally stand his ground if he believes it's the right thing. He'll admit when he's wrong though. At least he does that with me. I don't know about the others. He's the biggest worry wart I have ever known sometimes I want to smack him. Actually I do sometimes."

Kyu Lee couldn't see Ji Hoo letting anyone smack him. He was too prideful for that. But the man she had seen the other night hadn't been prideful. He'd been lost.

"Do you know about his past?" Eri nodded, retreating back into her stoic resolve. "Is it something you can tell me?"

"You would have seen it on the news. His parents died in a car accident when he was little. He hates closed in spaces, such as cars, because of it. He lived alone for so long it's amazing he knows how to socialize. Sometimes I think he's worse than me."

"No one's worse than you." Kyu Lee couldn't stop that comment even if her life depended on it. Glancing at Eri, she couldn't tell if it had upset the woman or if it had just slid off her shoulders.

"You'll have to ask him for the rest."

There was no arguing with the steadfastness in which she said those words. She wasn't going to get anything more from Eri.

The doorbell rang, sending red lights into a flurry of flashing. Kyu Lee was nervous because she had never seen it before.

"It's to let me know when someone rings my doorbell. Most of the time I don't have my hearing aids in when I'm home so these are here in place of those," the woman explained.

Kyu Lee put a hand out to keep her from getting up. "I'll get it for you. You shouldn't be moving around too much."

She got up and headed for the door. Not even bothering with the screen, she pushed it open. An older gentleman with white hair stood on the other side with a large suitcase. He looked like he could keel over at any time so she helped him in even though she couldn't understand hm.

"Grandpere!" Eri called from the couch.

The older man fast walked over to the couch where he collapsed and hugged Eri. They fell into a conversation in rapid fire French that she couldn't understand. But by the look on his face the older man was way too happy to care that he was in a foreign country.

He leaned back and took Eri's face in his hands. "My sweet, sweet petit fille. Are you fine?"

Eri placed her hands over his. "Grandpere, why are you here?"

"Your mama told me that you hadn't been home in months. I haven't seen my sweet petit fille in so long." His hands dropped away from her face as he surveyed her. He took in her condition with a mixture of shock and happiness. "A bebe? Your grandmere would be so happy if she were with us still. A arriere petit enfant."

Kyu Lee watched with rapt fascination as Eri talked with her grandfather. That was the only French word she had really picked up since they had been speaking so quickly. The atmosphere had eased since the older man's arrival. Eri seemed at peace as they sat together on the couch.

When the drip was all gone, she removed the needle from the expectant mother's wrist and tossed it along with the bag. She checked Eri's vitals one last time before giving her the all clear.

"Can you call Ji Hoo and ask him to meet us at Yi Jeong's studio? It's easy to ride in a taxi than taking the bus," Eri recommended.

"Should I stop on the way and get snacks and beverages? I'm sure everyone will ask questions," she thought.

"Good idea. We'll meet you there."

Kyu Lee watched the two fuss as they left the house. She grabbed her bag and followed after them, instead taking to the sidewalk. She hit the convenience store first then caught a taxi to Yi Jeong's studio even though she didn't know the name. The driver did so it made it easier.

When she walked in, everyone was already there and Eri's grandfather was sitting at the pottery wheel. He kept a steady hand on the wet clay as he spoke and spun the wheel. It was so rhythmic it seemed he put everyone in a trance. Even Yi Jeong was mesmerized.

"I taught my petit fille's mother all about this wheel and clay, and how together the two can make beautiful pieces of life." His hands swept up and out, and the clay flared with passion. "My Francesca can make beautiful pieces of art but she had to start somewhere. If she wasn't careful this would happen." He put pressure on the top and it folded in on itself. "This clay is just like life. The harder you are, the more you crumble. The gentler you are, the more you climb. And if you're sharp, you can make the most interesting designs." Using a tool beside him, he carefully etched a design in the clay. "When you are done, you have made something only those you trust can destroy."

Yi Jeong licked his lips. "You have one of the most amazing ways of explaining things."

"I taught all of this to my fille, my petit fille, and my petit –fils. I tried to teach it to my gendre, but he wouldn't listen. Science was his way of life. I was blessed to have a grandchild who understood both worlds."

"What was Eri like as a child?" Jan Di asked.

There was so much love in his gaze as he looked at the woman. "She was vibrant for the first few years. No one could get her to sit still. Even her teachers said she was too wild, but that all changed the night of the car wreck. My petit-fille changed overnight. The only way I could tell what she was feeling was through this."

"It's still the same. She comes here to relieve the stress she can't express," Yi Jeong explained.

"I can tell. It does an old heart good to see my petit-fille have such good friends to keep her grounded. But I need to address one thing." They all waited in anticipation. "Who is the young man that did this?"

The tone of his voice changed immediately. Without any hesitation, everyone pointed at Woo Bin. Looking like a fish out of water, the man's mouth worked but no sound came out. Finally he just hung his head.

"It was me, grandpere," he muttered.

The older man got up from his work and walked over to Woo Bin, picking his face up with his clay covered fingers. He forced Woo Bin to look him in the face, searching for something. Then he looked back at his granddaughter.

"Is he a good man, ma petit-fille?" he asked.

"Grandpere, he stood up to papa when no one else can. They all did," Eri answered.

He looked back at Woo Bin. "She's my only granddaughter. Hurt her and I will come after you. Marry her."

"Grandpere!" Eri exclaimed just as Woo Bin said, "We're not at that stage. Grandpere, you are well aware of her issues with emotions. I'm not trying to push anything."

He looked back at his granddaughter. "I like him, better than the thing Francesco has traipsing around your mother's villa. Speaking of your mother, have you talked to your parents?"

The warmth in Eri's eyes suddenly hardened into solid gold as she turned away. Yi Jeong wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side. Everyone shuffled uneasily. Kyu Lee didn't understand any of it, but the whole group didn't like Eri's parents in the least.

"Ma petit-fille, what are you going to do when it is time to have your child?" he pushed.

"She has all of us to be beside her," Ji Hoo answered. "Sir, I grew up without any parents, or grandparents. Eri had everything I longed for, or so I thought. But seeing the way your daughter and son-in-law treated her, I realized I didn't want it if that is what parents do to their children. So we all decided a long time ago that if someone needs us, we'd be the family and support that person needed."

Kyu Lee heard the pain and desire in his voice. So that's what Eri had kept from her. That must have been what cemented their relationship, bonding over lack of parental figures. It had nothing to with romance. They had needed each other at that time.

Ji Hoo glanced over at Kyu Lee as Francois, Eri's grandfather, launched into another story about her childhood. She was absorbing everything, but something seemed off. He worried that she was focusing on something stupid.

While he was on the subject, he thought it was a little too absurd. There was no way the woman was focusing on something so dumb as his past. She should just worry about what was going on in her life instead of his.

That thought irritated him because he had seen her making amends to his friends over the last few weeks. She had stepped up and apologized to Eri and Woo Bin and had asked Yi Jeong to show her pottery. The latter had been more reserved because he believed not everyone could make art, but he had done it to save face. Now they were on good terms as well even if it was thin.

She had helped him though. He now had an ultrasound machine and she had taken on his pregnant patients, including the Shinhwa student. Things were going great, but he had the nagging feeling he was missing something about her. And that irked him because it meant she stayed on his mind constantly. The last person who had done that had married his best friend. How was he going to work with this one?


	10. Chapter 10

Ji Hoo was standing in the lounge when the alarm for a car accident came over the intercom. He was the emergency physician on call. He and the nurses on staff with him rushed to the ER doors just as two ambulances pulled up. He stopped just as the first patient came through the doors.

Woo Bin was talking to the nurse and EMTs as they wheeled him past. Ji Hoo watched him leave just as the second person was brought in. He nearly met the floor as Eri was brought by next. Blood covered her head and chest, but the worst ones were near her stomach. His stomach clinched at the possible meanings.

He heard the page for Dr. Kang as he was heading into the ER. He went to Woo Bin immediately and began checking vitals and where he was injured. His friend kept talking even though he was crying, his tears, snot and blood mixing into one nasty mess. He didn't even scream when his dislocated shoulder was set back into place and tapped still.

"Ji Hoo, how is she?" he begged through a mucus clogged throat. "Tell me she's all right."

"She'll be all right but you need to tell me what happened," he said.

"We were in a taxi coming home from a movie because she said her feet hurt. We were crossing through a green light when a car from the left ran the red light and smashed into us right into the intersection. It was going so fast that our car flipped twice before landing on its side. The driver and I climbed out through the shattered windows, but Eri was trapped and unconscious. What's going to happen to my baby?"

The monitor started to beep as his heart rate skyrocketed. Ji Hoo ordered a light sedative to calm him down until he could get information of Eri, whom they had rushed straight into the OR due to her pregnancy.

Kyu Lee heard the page and ran as fast as she could down the stairs to the ER. She arrived just as they pushed Eri's gurney through the doors to the OR. She caught a brief glance of Ji Hoo seconds before he disappeared into the ER. She didn't have time to worry over him. She turned and ran to get changed, sincerely praying that she wasn't right about who her patient was.

Unfortunately that pray wasn't answered. Eri lay on the table, IVs and other tubes running from her. Glass shards were embedded in her arm and face. It wasn't going to leave a lot of scarring but that wasn't the most concerning thing. Eri was only 34 weeks, and her baby was in distress. They were going to have to deliver early and there was always the possibility of issues when delivering a preemie.

She got to work, making an incision in the abdomen and uterus. Normally she would have made sure that this method didn't happen, but Eri's blood pressure and heart rate were dropping and the baby was in distress. If she didn't do something soon, she would lose both of them.

She worked quickly and efficiently, making sure she kept an eye on the monitor. Once she had delivered the baby and cut the umbilical cord, she passed it off to a nurse who started to clean it and wrapped it up in a blanket. She was pulling out the placenta when she heard the first strangled cries of a newborn. Sighing, she started to stitch her patient up.

That's when things started to go down the shitter. Eri's blood pressure plunged, sending her into cardiac arrest. It was a horrible irony. The cardiovascular surgeon going into cardiac arrest. Kyu Lee would never hear the end of it if she let the woman die so the nurse started compressions until the crash cart was in place. They shocked her as soon as the all clear was given. Immediately her heart started up.

"Dr. Kang, what will happen if she gets pregnant again?" a nurse asked.

Kyu Lee looked at the sutures in her hand and battled with herself. If she did this, she could be sued for malpractice. No doctor would ever do something without their patient's consent. But if Eri were to get pregnant again, it would put a strain on her system since this was such a shock to her. There would be higher risks involved. So she made the decision, hoping it wouldn't bite her in the ass later on.

The anesthesia was starting to wear off just as she finished stitching up everything. That was the worst thing about all of this. Eri didn't take anesthesia well. They'd only administered a small does since she was already unconscious when they brought her in, but now it was wearing off. She was going to be in a lot of pain but that wouldn't stop the violence due to disorientation.

She heard her patient moan in pain and knew she didn't have a lot of time. She called for morphine and a sedative. Those two would keep her pain free and asleep for a little bit until her heart calmed down.

Eri opened her eyes briefly and made eye contact with her. Kyu Lee smiled sadly at her just before the nurse punched the plunger. Her mouth opened at the sudden burn then she nodded as her eyes closed again. She understood without having to be told with words.

She finished in the OR and went to clean up. Once she was in fresh scrubs, she went to check on the baby. The nurses said the baby was doing well. It was healthy and normally developed. Its lungs weren't fully developed, but that was normal and wouldn't hinder the baby. After making sure the baby was comfortable in the NICU, she went in search for Ji Hoo.

He was pacing around outside the ER so it wasn't hard to track him down. He grabbed hold of her shoulders and shook her. Panic and fear were rampant in his eyes.

"How are they?" he asked.

"Both are doing well. I had to do an emergency C-Section because the baby was in distress. The only thing Eri has to deal with right now is a concussion and getting better," she explained.

But he knew she had left something out. His mouth was set in that stubborn line. He shook her once again. "How is she?"

Sighing, she removed his hands. "She went into cardiac arrest because there was too much stress on her at one time. She's going to be fine. I'll explain the rest when we speak to Woo Bin."

He explained what had happened as they walked into one of the recovery rooms. Woo Bin was supposed to be asleep but the adrenaline had probably already helped his body metabolize the sedative. He looked up as soon as they slid the door open.

"Ji Hoo, how is she? Is she all right? Are they all right?" His mouth started going ninety to nothing as his body started shaking, making the monitor go nuts.

"Woo Bin, you have to calm down. You're going to give yourself a stroke if you don't," Ji Hoo advised.

"How can you say that? My girlfriend, your friend, is in the hospital too! How can you be so calm?"

"Shut up," Kyu Lee ordered. "If you don't calm down, I won't tell you a damn thing." It took a minute but Woo Bin shut his mouth. "You have to remain calm even if what I tell you is hard. Understand?"

When he nodded, she sat down beside him and took his hand. "I removed glass shards from Eri's face and arms. There will be minimal scarring so you don't have to worry about that, not like you do anyway. Your child was in distress due to the accident so I had to deliver."

His mouth dropped open at those words. "Is my baby okay? Did it make it?"

Kyu Lee nodded as she smiled. "Yes, he made it. For six weeks premature, he has reached the development that is normal for a thirty-four week fetus. He'll have to be in the NICU for a few weeks to strengthen his lungs, but he'll be fine."

Woo Bin looked up at Ji Hoo. "I have a son." But that faded as soon as he thought about something else. "What about Eri?"

"She went into cardiac arrest on the table." A horrified gasp escaped him and she saw tears tumbled over his cheeks. "The crash cart was brought in and I shocked her to bring her back. The pregnancy was hard on her and no one knew. I'm assuming you didn't know because if you had she would have complained about your nagging. But I made a decision that she was okay with."

"How was she okay? She was unconscious."

"Not at the very end. The anesthesia wore off just as we were finishing. She looked up at me and nodded."

"What did you do?"

Kyu Lee looked down in remorse. "I tied her tubes. She won't be able to have any more kids because it will cause a strain on her system."

Woo Bin didn't like the news, but he accepted it far better than she thought he would. He wiped at his eyes. "When can I see him?"

"As soon as you're discharged," Ji Hoo said. "We're going to keep you overnight for observation. You should be discharged tomorrow."

Checking his friend's vitals once again, Ji Hoo and Kyu Lee left him to rest. They walked to the lounge and got some coffee before taking a seat. Their night had just gone to hell with their friends being admitted to the hospital. Ji Hoo had called everyone after he made sure Woo Bin was fine. They should be there shortly.

Ji Hoo's phone chimed and he pulled it out to check the messages. "Yi Jeong is with Eri. He said he's staying the night."

"At least she won't be alone," Kyu Lee muttered. "That was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Making a split decision like that to keep a woman from having children? That's not what I do."

"It had to be done. I'm sure if she were conscious she would have told you the same thing. Don't beat yourself up over it."

"I caused so much trouble in the beginning. I feel like I'm causing trouble now."

"She'll yell at you if she wants to. Just be ready for that time."

That didn't make her feel any better, but having Ji Hoo sitting beside her worked wonders on her nerves. She sighed and stared at the black liquid in her cup.

"What is it?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I'm just thinking."

"You're thinking awfully hard."

"I tend to do that after something so stressful. And whatever I spout off now, just ignore it. My senses aren't really perfect right now. And when they falter, I say stupid stuff like I'm a virgin or that I'm secretly in love with the doctor beside me, but don't stand a chance because he hates me and thinks I'm out of his league. It's things like that that get me in trouble. Just like I couldn't keep my mouth shut when I was around Woo Bin in the beginning."

Ji Hoo put a hand on hers. "You should really shut up now. I think you just poured out your heart in a matter of sixty seconds."

"But I can't!" She stood up and started to pace.

"If you can't then you should leave right now and go stand in a corner until you're ready to listen to what I have to say."

She turned around and looked at him. He was staring at her with so much force he could see right through her. She had already poured everything out and now he wanted her to be quiet. What kind of man was he? Was he that stuck up that everything he said went? Annoyed already she turned and stormed off.

Ji Hoo sighed and shook his cup. He was going to say something meaningful but the damn woman had gotten mad instead. Could he not make a woman happy in the least bit? Was he destined to piss off everyone in the female population? Not understanding anything that was going on, he went to finish his rounds then to pop in on his other friend.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note:** I'm all better! I can move around without my belly feeling like it's trying to escape. That is a very wonderful feeling. Anyway. Sorry it's taken so long to post. I was at church then I had to clean the house. It's almost over! It makes me sad. Feel free to ask for any kind of story after this.

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The next morning Ji Hoo walked into Eri's room and wasn't surprised to find Yi Jeong or Francois asleep. The former had somehow weaseled his way into the patient's bed. The kindly grandfather was asleep in the chair. Eri had her head tucked into Yi Jeong's shoulder. The three looked like something out of a manhwa.

He sat down on the windowsill and cracked open his latest book. It was something Eri had recommended. At first he thought the woman was mental for recommending a French story, but as he read he found himself falling into the book so deeply he couldn't put it down. If she ever found out he would never hear the end of it.

Out of habit, every few seconds he would glance up at the incessantly beeping monitor just to make sure his friend was still with him. After hearing she had coded on the table, Ji Hoo had wanted to keep a vigil on her. Unfortunately he'd had other things to deal with, so he had left that to Yi Jeong and Francois. If anyone could do it, it was them.

He'd had his hands full with his other friend. Woo Bin hadn't wanted to stay in his bed. He had asked nonstop if he could go see his girlfriend. No matter how many times Ji Hoo had told him she was fine and resting like he should be, he still wanted to go. So to ease the bitching and bellyaching, they'd sedated him.

He heard the door open and looked up. Kyu Lee walked in and stopped just inside the door. She stared at the bed, then looked at him. He shrugged. There wasn't anything he could do. Yi Jeong would put up a fight if they told him to move and the man was scary when he was angry. He had thrown his beloved pots once.

Kyu Lee took the vitals and everything else she needed before quietly leaving the room. There was no need for her to remain after that. He blew out a deep breath and tried to focus on his book, but the look on the woman's face was seared into his brain. What was he going to do? He wasn't any good at this. He had figured that out in high school when he had been friend zoned by both Seo Hyun and Jan Di. His heart couldn't take another friend zoning.

He was always nagging Eri to tell him what she was feeling, but he felt like a hypocrite. He couldn't say what he was feeling for fear that someone will misinterpret them. He really shouldn't feel that way. He had had a firm grasp on all of his emotions from the time he was a child. Eri hadn't, and yet every time he told her to let hers out he felt like he was talking more to himself than to her.

"Tell her how you feel," came the muted phrase from his left.

He looked over and saw Eri watching him. Seeing her awake brought another sigh out of him and smile took over the frown. He would have moved if not for Yi Jeong. He didn't want to wake the man.

"If you don't tell people how you feel, you'll never know if they feel the same for you in return," she said.

His smile saddened. "I think I may have heard that before."

"You have. It's what you said to me not too long ago."

He had. She'd had a hard time dealing with Kyu Lee and had spent more time at Yi Jeong's studio than she had at home. He had finally hunted her down and talked to her about everything. He'd said that no one could exclude her feelings on things, and all she had to do was speak up. He'd said those exact words to her that day and she was finally using them on him.

She sat up, something he was horrified to see. She didn't act like she was in pain, but that could be the morphine doing its job. "Look by grandpere." He did as she asked and was surprised to see a violin case. "I want you to play for me."

"But you won't hear it. They took your hearing aids," he argued.

"Just do it."

Nervous, he picked up the case and flipped the latches. He hadn't picked on up since sophomore year of college. He wasn't even sure his fingers would remember the right cords. He looked at Eri hoping she would tell him he didn't have to do it, but she was snuggling back into her place.

He pulled the bow out of its snug position and reached for the violin. His hand shook just a little bit as his fingers closed around it. He put it to his chin and tested the strings all were in tune, something that significantly surprised him. The instrument was old by the fading on the chin piece and the neck.

He pulled the bow across the strings and they resonated with a beautifully sad sound. Not even three bars into the music and he was lost. His fingers remembered every note, every melody as he drew the bow across the strings. He let the music take him somewhere far away, somewhere he hadn't been in a very long time.

He was back at Shinhwa High School in his secluded area that only a few people knew. He could feel the crisp fall morning as the wind rustled the leaves above him, adding to the majesty that was classical music. He wasn't Dr. Yoon Ji Hoo. He was Yoon Ji Hoo, senior at Shinhwa High School and member of F4. He was sought after by every woman who had money or wished to have money. He could see the fire escape where he would sleep, and talk to Jan Di.

He was emotionless Yoon Ji Hoo, the man who didn't register anyone on his level except F4. He was just flying by because no one had interested him. The only way for him to express how he felt was through the very thing he held in his hand.

And that's exactly what he was doing in the recovery room of the hospital. It didn't matter that his boss could walk in any time. It didn't matter that he hadn't played in years. It didn't matter that he was lost in his own little world. All that mattered was that he was expressing everything he couldn't say with words.

He let go. Everything he was feeling – sadness, rage, love, hate, annoyance, despair, heartache – everything was let go in this piece. It was a piece he had memorized long ago but it had an even more special meaning now. He was sad that Eri couldn't have any more kids. He was mad and hated the person who had done this. He hated his past heartache that made him indecisive. He loved being in love, but he was annoyed at how much he craved to say the words. And he despaired for not being able to say those words before the woman had chosen another.

When he drew the bow over the strings for the last time, he felt raw and ragged. He looked over to see Yi Jeong wide awake and watching him. Eri wiped a tear sliding down her face then looked up at him.

"I have never heard a more beautiful yet sad rendition before." Ji Hoo was shocked to see François watching him. "Anyone who can make my ma petit-fille cry like that must have some pent up sadness that only she can see."

"Grandpa," he breathed. Everything was still so fresh he couldn't find the words to say.

"It's okay, ma petit-fils. Music was created to give us an outlet to our emotions. We cry, laugh, scream, panic, breathe, and eat to music. It has become a sincere part of every person. No matter how many times you lie to yourself, this," he grabbed Ji Hoo's hand holding the violin, "will never lie. You are at your rawest when you freely give in to the music."

"I haven't heard you play like that in years," Yi Jeong said.

"For a musician not to play for years, it must be very hard. Imagine if you were not allowed to do pottery for a year. A few months when injured is easy to endure, but years? I could not imagine."

Eri hit the button to raise the bed up. When she was happy with its height, she swung her legs over the edge, much to the dismay of the men.

"Should you be moving?" Yi Jeong asked.

She glared at him then said, "I need to go to the bathroom. Are you going to help me or just sit there?"

Reprimanded and slightly disturbed, the man slid off the other side of the bed and walked around. He helped her down and into the bathroom where she promptly closed the door on him while muttering something about idiot boys. François couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out as he watched his granddaughter boss around two grown men. When she was done, she opened the door and Yi Jeong helped her back in the bed.

"Are you angry?" Ji Hoo asked.

She shook her head. "No. I've already made peace with it even if it was just in my dreams. I know it would be hard after the trauma I've already been through. I was very lucky to have a beautiful child."

Saddened by the thought, he excused himself to go check on Woo Bin. Luckily the man had been discharged and went home to change out of bloody clothes. He returned with clothing not only for Eri but for the baby as well. They weren't going to let him wear some of it while in the NICU, but as soon as he was released he could wear it.

His bandaged face widened in a smile seconds before Ji Hoo realized he was flanked by his parents. Song Woo Jun and Lee Ka Lee were almost as formidable as Kang Hee Soo with one difference. They had actually allowed their son to make decisions on his own. When they found out he was dating Eri, they hadn't said no. They had asked how old she was, who her father was, what he did, what her mother did and what her plans for the future were. Not once did they mention that their relationship was ill-fated. Out of the four of them, Woo Bin had the best parents.

"How is she?" Ka Lee asked as soon as they were together.

"She's awake and moving around. I'm sure Woo Bin has told you everything," he said as he turned them towards the elevator that would lead them to Eri's room.

"He did. We're here to see our grandson. We know it is against traditions, but since Eri is half French, we assumed she would not know the Korean birth traditions," Woo Jun explained.

"I would be surprised if she did."

He knocked on the door before he slid it open. Eri was sitting in the chair her grandfather had preoccupied before he left. She smiled at him, waving slightly with her IVed hand. Woo Bin brushed past him.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, kneeling down to take her face in his hands. They had matching bandages on their faces. He was facing her so she could read his lips.

She pulled his hands from her face but held them in her lap. "I'm fine. I'm not hurting particularly badly right now. Did you bring what I needed?" He nodded and handed her a black case. She pulled the hearing aids out and popped them in her ears. "Finally. I can hear instead of lip reading. Hello, Woo Jun, Ka Lee. 

"We're breaking traditions for you," Ka Lee said as she sat on the edge of the bed. "Normally we wouldn't visit the mother so soon, but seeing as you are classified as French, I assume you do not know."

"Mom," Woo Bin warned.

But Eri waved his warning away. "I may be used to French customs, but my father expressed to me the value of his Korean heritage when I was little. I still remember most of it. If you are ashamed to have broken your traditions, I will not think it a slant against me if you walk out that door. But you are free to visit me any time."

Woo Jun smiled approvingly at his son. "You have a feisty woman, my son. Have you decided on a name?"

"Dad, before we tell anyone that, let me introduce you to François DeArgint, Eri's grandfather," Woo Bin introduced.

Woo Jun's mouth fell slack as he stared at the older gentleman in the room. "François DeArgint? The François DeArgint? The one who owns DeArgint Mining and Construction?"

François nodded. "Yes, but my oldest son is in charge since I retired last year. Are you Song Woo Jun?"

"Yes, yes, I am. It is an honor to meet you. Woo Bin, did you know that this man is the second highest shareholder in our company?"

"Grandpere?" Eri asked, the incredulity in her voice completely fake. Woo Jun and Woo Bin looked at her. "Uncle Etienne isn't the biggest shareholder in your company. I am."

The father and son looked at the grandfather. He cleared his throat in the way only old men can and fumbled with his hands. "I transferred all my accounts into Eri's possession upon her twenty-fifth birthday. Her name is on everything I own. I may have let my company to my son, but my heart went to my only petit-fille."

Woo Bin smiled. "You knew this from the beginning."

"Yes, but money has no importance to me. I could be flat broke and still be happy." She turned her head to get her grandfather's attention. "Grandpere, I have something to tell you."

François turned to her immediately, old wrinkled hand caressing her cheek lovingly. "What is it, ma petit-fille?"

"Kyu Lee already told me what happened. She delivered the baby early because even if I had survived surgery, the baby probably wouldn't have. Also, there was so much stress on my system that she went ahead and made it impossible for me to have children. My baby is the only child I will ever have naturally."

Silence filled the room. Only Woo Bin and Ji Hoo knew the whole story and they had been sworn to secrecy early on. Woo Bin was going to be the one who took it the hardest. Eri had already made peace with it. He could tell by the tone of her voice.

Ka Lee was the first to respond. "You poor, poor child."

And that's when Eri's face closed down. She had read the pity in the woman's gaze and had suddenly become detached from the emotions surrounding the room. Yi Jeong moved from the far side of the room to the windowsill, wedging himself behind the chair and burying his hand in her hair. Woo Bin took her hand, careful of the IV line, and François placed a hand on her shoulder. Ji Hoo crowded closer. There had never been a more united front.

"I do not appreciate your tone with here, madam," François said. "Bearing and rearing children is not everything it used to be. Not every couple has children. I have never understood the Korean traditions and nor do I try to. But if you look down on ma petit-fille for not being able to have any more children, I will not be afraid to rage a war so brutal on your company you will go bankrupt before I am finished. Only your precious son and grandson will survive because Eri has accepted them."

François had been very calm during his stay. He had told funny stories and had played the part of the kind grandfather. He had even volunteered to buy dinner a few nights in a row. But the man that had risen to the challenge wasn't that kindly old grandfather. He was a ruthless business man that would go to the ends of the earth to protect that one precious thing to him.

Eri placed a hand on his. "Grandpere, do not make threats. It is very unbecoming. If anyone should make threats, it is me. I own the stocks and I have borne them a grandson. If anything that makes me even more powerful than you. I could easily find a flight back to France and take the child with me. His birth certificate hasn't been registered. He isn't legally your grandson. He isn't a Song."

She continued without remorse or emotion, a very dangerous thing to Woo Bin's parents. "Do not treat me like I have lost something, because I haven't. I agree with the doctor that it would dangerous to bear more children. I knew that when I found out I was pregnant, but I care for Woo Bin more than even I realize sometimes. I wanted that child. But if you continue down this path of guilt and treachery, I will have no remorse in snatching that child out from under your noses and taking him back to my home country. Yes, I have dual citizenship, but I can easily make it where I am a citizen of France. If I do that, you will never see him ever again. Woo Bin will have access to him whenever he wishes, but not you."

Ji Hoo watched Woo Bin wipe at his nose, a clear sign he thought this entire thing was funny. And in a way it was. Eri, soft-spoken Eri, was finding her voice amongst them. She had already put Kyu Lee in her place, had given Ji Hoo the means he needed to express his thoughts and feelings, and was now working on her in-laws. She didn't need to understand her emotions to wield them.

Kyu Lee knocked on the door at that moment. "Okay, partiers in room 420. It's time for my patient's dinner and bath. I must ask you to leave."

Ji Hoo mouthed thank you as the CAN came in, making Woo Bin protest. The man was handsome and he was the one going to clean Eri. The new father and boyfriend didn't approve.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note:** This is the final chapter! I know this one took a little longer than the last one, but when you feel like you're dying you tend to take more breaks than you would when you're well. I hope you enjoyed it. Again, if you want me to do a sequel, give me ideas! I will gladly attempt one! Thanks for your patience and your reviews. If it wasn't for those, I don't think I would have been able to write these.

Also in this chapter, I made up another family member for Woo Bin since the show doesn't explicitly name his family members.

 **To my Guest reviewer:** Do you want it in this series or a different one?

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"No, I'm not leaving." Those words were punctuated with severe hand signs.

Yi Jeong covered his mouth and laughed, trying his best not to be too loud. Ji Hoo and Woo Bin shot him a scathing look then turned back to the obstinate woman sitting in the bed.

Three days had passed since the night of the car accident. Woo Bin had been discharged and put on two days mandatory rest until his hand was better. So he spent every day at the hospital with Eri. They had been given permission to go into the NICU. Their son was healthy, having to only stay for sixteen days until he could breathe on his own.

François and Ka Lee had been coming frequently as well. Woo Bin's mother had been slightly offended in the beginning but after sitting and talking with the mother of her grandchild she had calmed down. Woo Bin's older brother, Woo Ahn, was even there, which made Woo Bin a little perturbed. He and his brother weren't on speaking terms. They had all put aside their traditions for the woman Woo Bin would one day marry.

Everyone was putting aside their strict Korean traditions. Like usual, Yi Jeong was at the hospital every day. He brought fresh flowers that he put in a vase he had thrown. The last couple of days he had been later because Ga Eul had been with him. Jan Di stopped by every couple of hours while she was working and Jun Pyo had made an appearance as well, stating he would take care of the hospital bills. Woo Bin had objected but once something was stuck in his head Jun Pyo was a runaway train. He wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Today Eri was supposed to be discharged but she was throwing a tantrum, something so unlike her that Yi Jeong was laughing.

"Erica Genevieve Choi," François scolded.

Even the use of her first and middle name wasn't enough to make her move. She crossed her arms like a petulant child and stared at them. Ji Hoo was really wishing at that moment they hadn't pushed her into showing her emotions. She was doing a very fine job of doing it right now.

"Eri, they need the space in case another person gets sick. You're a doctor. You should know how valuable space is when you don't have it," he argued, hands smacking so hard together it stung.

She looked at him. "Tell her."

That's the only thing she had been saying all morning. Tell her. Tell her. Tell her. It was really starting to piss him off. Not because she kept repeating it but because he knew what she was talking about. But he had to play due to save face.

"Tell her what? What do you want me to tell her?"

"Tell Kyu Lee that you like her!"

Every head swiveled around to look at him. He could feel his face heating up as he tried to keep his temper and embarrassment in check. She was very good at nitpicking him. Why couldn't she just go home and sleep? If she went home, she was going to be at his house annoying him until he yelled at her.

She finally sighed. "If you won't admit it to her, at least admit it to me." He clenched his jaw so hard his teeth screamed in pain. "Yoon Ji Hoo!"

She used his full name. "Fine! I like Kang Kyu Lee! But there's no way in hell it would work out. She's pushy and arrogant and egotistical. She thinks the best at what she does and she doesn't apologize unless she's pushed against the wall."

Yi Jeong glanced at Woo Bin. "Does that sound like someone we know?"

Woo Bin nodded. "Yes, but unfortunately he's not here at the moment."

Ji Hoo sat down on the bed beside her and ran his hand through her hair. "Eri, I haven't pushed you with your emotions. Don't push me in this."

"I've watched you for six weeks run around that woman. Yes, she's all those things you mentioned, but she also watches you the same way you said Woo Bin was watching me. Once told something emotional, I never forget it. I saw her face the night she came to apologize. Hoo, she meant everything she said. The face may lie, but the eyes can't."

Once again she was spouting words he had said to her in the past. That particular one was from when he first met her. She'd been the topic of gossip at the hospital and it had only been her first week there. People were talking that she was already sleeping with the man who had hired her. Nothing had shown on her face about what she was feeling.

At the time he hadn't known her very well. But once he found out she lived next door, he had done everything he could to get her to open up about what she was feeling. That's when he had noticed that she didn't show anything she was feeling on her face but her eyes had expressed everything. When another rumor started that she was only half Korean and therefore not qualified to do her job, he had taken her aside.

"Eri, what's wrong?" he had asked.

She had shaken her head at him and tried to walk past him, but he had boxed her in. When he had reached for her face, she had pulled it back ever so slightly so he couldn't touch her. He then had tried to meet her gaze but she had averted it once again.

"Did they say something again?" he had pressed.

She had kept her deathly silence still. It was then he had realized that she hadn't looked at his mouth but continually over his shoulder. He had poked her in the ears, finding that his finger went straight in instead of being blocked. He had sighed then made her face him.

"Eri, you can't just ignore what you don't want to hear. You have to put your hearing aids in if you want to work. When those idiots upset you, let me know."

"No one had upset me," she had finally answered.

He hadn't believed her. "The face may be blank or lie, but the eyes can't. And right now yours are full of thunder and lightning." He'd grabbed her face, thumbs brushing delicately under her eyes. "Whenever things get too hard for you, I'm right here. You can always talk to me."

That had been the first time he had actually seen real emotion from her. That anger and burning rage had all showed in her eyes that night. If she said she had seen it in Kyu Lee's eyes the night she had apologized, she was telling the truth. No matter what she did or what emotion was at the forefront, Eri couldn't lie.

Like the night she had fully begun to trust him, Ji Hoo took Eri's face in his hands and pressed their foreheads together with a sigh. She placed her hands over his and let out a deep breath.

"I want to help you be happy, Hoo, just like you've helped me," she whispered.

He smiled and pulled back. "I know. I know. But you have to sign the paperwork to be discharged. If you don't, I won't be happy."

This time she took his face in her hands and searched his eyes. That exotic, stoic, scarred face searched his for answers. He watched her eyes rove over him, beautiful and an odd colored brown.

Without warning, she pulled his head forward and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. He let a smile slip over his face at the friendly innocence that had plagued him since their first meeting.

"You are my best friend, Hoo," she whispered so only he could hear.

Before he could think of an answer, there was a knock at the door. Kyu Lee smiled as she came in the room, until she saw the overfriendliness of Ji Hoo and her patient. A little miffed, she looked at Woo Bin.

"They aren't planning on eloping are they?" she asked with mock seriousness.

Woo Bin laughed, his eyes lighting up for the first time in days. "No, I just think they're having a moment. I don't understand what moment that would be but it seems real enough that they're that close."

Putting on a fake smile, she turned to Eri. "Can you please sign this and get out of my recovery room? I have two more women coming in to deliver and I may need this space."

Eri saw the hope in the woman's eyes, and that gave her an idea. She looked into Ji Hoo's face and cocked an eyebrow. His face lightened in shock as he made the connection with what she was saying. Then he heaved an annoyed sigh.

"If I do it, will you discharge yourself?" he asked. She nodded once. Angered, he patted her face once then stood.

He turned to face Kyu Lee, and as soon as he did, his world was flipped. She was haggard looking, like she hadn't slept in a few days. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail that would make any woman look fierce. This time it made her look tired. There were dark rings under her eyes.

Before he could stop himself, Ji Hoo reached for her, cupping her face gently. He knew if he looked around, his friends would be smiling at how easily he gave in. But truth be told, he was tired of fighting it. His thumb brushed against the darkened skin under her eye.

"You should sleep," he said. Yi Jeong hid a laugh as Woo Bin sputtered. "But before you do that and before I take Miss Stubborn here home, I have something I need to say to you."

"You're stubborn, thick-headed, annoying, a know-it-all, someone who won't apologize unless you absolutely have to save yourself from a lawsuit, egotistical, pushy and arrogant." With every word he said, she winced visibly like he had slapped her. "And yet, through it all I find that kind of endearing. So much so that I didn't even realize it until I was told by someone who has no experience what I was feeling. In short, even though I hate you, I also like you, Kang Kyu Lee. I like you so much more than I should."

He took the clipboard from her and handed it over to Eri. "Now sign the damn paperwork so we can get out of here."

Kyu Lee was in a daze as Eri signed the release paperwork and handed it back. Woo Bin pulled her up as he and Yi Jeong helped her into a wheelchair. It was standard protocol for a patient being released to be wheeled out of the hospital. They were out the door before she even processed what had just happened.

Yoon Ji Hoo, Dr. Yoon Ji Hoo, had just outright stated that he liked her. That was after he stated everything he thought was wrong with her. But the fact was that he had just said he liked her. She wasn't dreaming. He had just said those words to her in a span of two minutes, and then he had left.

Leaving the room to housekeeping and slamming the metal clipboard onto the nurses' station, Kyu Lee took the stairs to get to the lobby. There was no way she could wait for the elevator. It would take too long and they could be gone. She had to catch them under the awning before they were gone. It couldn't wait until tomorrow when they all came back to see the baby. It had to be today.

She was out of breath when she finally hit the first floor and burst through the door. The lobby was full of doctors, nurses, patients, and CNAs as they milled about or talked with each other about their respective illnesses. Some looked at her a she ran by. She was certain they thought she had lost her mind.

"Yoon Ji Hoo!" she called. She saw the light brown head turn at his name. He was standing by a black car. She ran over and threw her arms about him. "Did you mean it? Everything you said up there. Did you mean all of it?"

She felt his chest heave as he sighed. "Do you think I would have said it if I didn't mean it?" His chest rumbled as he spoke.

Shaking her head, she looked up at him. "No. I don't think you're that cruel of a person."

Ji Hoo let out another sigh (he was doing a lot of that lately) and pushed her away only to hold her at arm's length. "I meant everything I said. You're a pain in the ass. You nearly killed my friend only to save her. I hate that about you. And yet, something draws me to you."

She was finally hearing the words she had been dying to hear for the last month. He was actually admitting he liked her. So before he could take it all back, she tossed her arms around his neck and kissed him. He was so shocked he stumbled back but his arms finally tightened around her.

"About damn time," she heard Woo Bin mutter a few seconds before the car pulled away. It looked like he was going to have to have to find another way home.

 **THE END**


End file.
